


Hunting Down the Compound

by Nightwinging_Life



Category: DreamSMP, Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Dehumanization, Dissociation, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kidnapping, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Panic Attacks, Swearing, Torture, implied slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 32,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightwinging_Life/pseuds/Nightwinging_Life
Summary: Members of the Dream SMP have mysteriously gone missing, and one thing connects them all. They are not human. An unlikely group of allies shows up, but will they be able to find their friends in time and at what cost?A hybrid AU with a crossover between the Dream SMP and Hermitcraft.
Comments: 145
Kudos: 560





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hybrids:  
> -Tubbo (Bee Hybrid)  
> -Dream (Enderman Hybrid)  
> -Badboyhalo (Demon)  
> -Fundy (Fox Hybrid)  
> -Techno (Piglin Hybrid)  
> -Eret (Void touched)  
> -Xisuma (Voidwalker)  
> -Doc (Creeper Hybrid Cyborg)  
> -Ren (Dog Hybrid)  
> -Tango (Demon)  
> -Cub (Vex Hybrid)  
> -Etho (Enderman Hybrid)

It was so nice seeing the SMP so lively and peaceful again.

“WHAT THE FUCK TUBBO???”

Ah yes. Peaceful.

Giggling, Tubbo flew on top of a tree, and in an act of complete and utter maturity, stuck his tongue out at Tommy. 

Tommy ran up to the tree, glaring up at him. “Tubbo. Where did you put my disks?”

“What disks?” Tubbo asked innocently.

Tommy was not amused. “Oh you know, just the disks that I would start another war for.”

He pulled out the two disks and waved them teasingly at the other boy. “You mean these disks?”

“Tubbo, what are you doing in a tree?” said a voice from behind him. 

“Oh hey Wilbur. How’s it going?” Tubbo turned around to see Wilbur standing under the tree.

“Wilbur, Tubbo stole my disks again!” 

“Tubbo. Give Tommy his disks back.” Wilbur crossed his arms and Tubbo let out a sigh. 

Buzzing his way down to the ground, he held out the disks. Tommy swiped them and held onto them like they were his child.

“Tubbo, what do you say to Tommy?”

Tubbo kicked a small clump of grass with his toe. “Sorry Tommy.”

Tommy sighed and looked down at him. “Why couldn’t I have been a bee hybrid? You get to be all small and cute and shit. And you get wings?” Tommy slid the disks in his satchel, all his anger gone. 

“Language.”

“Oh hello BBH,” Tommy said with a wolfish grin on his face.

The demon walked up with Skeppy following close behind. “There you are Tubbo! I’ve been looking all over for you. Are you still free to go get some flowers for the fes- er party? I can go by myself if you are too busy. You just know where the good ones are.”

“Oh yeah! Sorry, I got a bit distracted,” Tubbo said as Tommy came and leaned on him, resting his arm on the smaller man’s shoulder.

“I see that.” Bad chuckled.

Wilbur piped up. “If Bad and Tubbo are going to get some flowers, Tommy and Skeppy, would you want to come help me set up a few things?”

Skeppy and Tommy looked a little uncertain. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Tommy asked.

“We’ll be fine! Go help Wilbur. We’ll be back before dinner,” Bad said, motioning for Tubbo to follow him.

Tubbo smiled and waved at the others, running after Bad. “See you soon!”

“Be careful, there’s like spiders and shit,” Tommy yelled after them.

A faint, “LANGUAGE,” came from the distance.

Wilbur nudged Tommy teasingly. “Oh and you say Tubbo is the clingy one.”

“Hey!”

The three watched the two run off towards a field. 

“They are going to get distracted again, aren’t they?”

“Oh no doubt about that.”

\-----

Tubbo buzzed along, trying to catch up to the demon. “Wait Bad, slow down. I’ve got short legs, you’re going too fast!” Bad didn’t seem to hear him and kept frolicking in the field. 

A small cough built up in his lungs. “Bad-” his sentence broke off to a series of coughs. Why was it so hard to breathe? He stopped chasing after the muffin lover to try and catch his breath. He wheezed trying to get more oxygen. 

What was that weird smell? The world started to spin, but not in the fun pufferfish stress reliever kind of way. His movements were slow and heavy, like he was being held in place by a boatload of honey. The coughs were getting much more forceful. He tried to turn to see if he had stepped on a wither rose or something. The ground seemed to shift under his feet, knocking him off balance. He toppled to the ground with a yelp.

He was slightly aware of a faint ringing in his ears and movement of people around him. There was a small prick in his neck, similar to a bee sting, and he felt himself drift to sleep.

\-----

“Tubbo?” Bad turned around looking for any sign of the kid. “Tubbo, is this one of Tommy’s prank ideas? You can come out now.”

Only the rustling of grass met his ears. “Stop being a muffinhead, I can hear you there!” Bad pushed his way through the taller and thicker grass towards the rustling.

“Tubbo?” 

The rustling had stopped and Bad started to get worried. Tubbo could never keep still. The demon could always hear a faint buzzing coming from his when he was in the same room with him. Surely he should hear him by now. 

“Tubbo are you there? It’s just me, Bad.”

A small whistling sound flew towards him, hitting him in the neck. His vision slowly started getting covered with dark splotches and he could have sworn he saw some figures getting closer to him. 

“G’ back.” He swung his arms at the approaching figures but all his fists could hit was air. Man, his head hurt. “Wha’d you do to Twubbo?”

He let out a small squeak as arms grabbed him. He tried to push them away, but his arms were so heavy. Why was he so tired? 

His eyes focused on a small figure on the ground. “TUB-” A dull thud to the back of his head cut him off. He crumpled to the ground, out completely.

\-----

Tommy was just helping Wilbur with the last tablecloth when he saw Niki running towards them. 

Wilbur looked up at her and waved with a big smile spreading across his face. “Hey Niki.”

“Hi Will, quick question. Have you seen Fundy or Eret around? I was supposed to help them with their ‘Big Surprise’ but I can’t seem to find them anywhere.”

Wilbur frowned and rubbed his chin. “They aren’t at Eret’s castle?”

Niki shook her head and Skeppy walked over. “What’s going on? You can’t find Fundy?”

“Or Eret,” Niki said, worry covering her face. 

Tommy opened his mouth to ask a question, but someone ran into him, knocking him over. “What the fuck dude?”

Sapnap quickly regained his composure and reached out a hand to help Tommy up. “Sorry, me and George were just looking for Dream. He and Techno should have gotten here by now.”

“First Eret and Fundy and now Techno and Dream? What’s going on?” Wilbur said, looking at his communicator for any messages from any of them.

“Wait, Fundy’s gone?” George asked as he caught up to Sapnap. 

“Eret too”

Sapnap sighed. “And I guess they are answering any messages either?”

Niki nodded solemnly. 

“We need to find Bad and Tubbo,” Skeppy said anxiously. 

A small knot was forming in the pit of Tommy’s stomach. This can’t be good. Pulling out his communicator he sent a few messages to Tubbo.

Tommyinnit to Tubbo> Tubbo where are you?

Tommyinnit to Tubbo> This is important

Tommyinnit to Tubbo> You’re kind of freaking me out here man

Tommyinnit to Tubbo> Tubbo?

His messages quickly turned to spamming, his spelling going as the lump in his throat grew. He looked up to see Skeppy undoubtedly doing the same to Bad.

Wilbur looked at the others. “We need to make sure everyone is accounted for.”

“I messaged Sam when I was looking for Dream and he’s doing something big with the others,” George added. “That just leaves Fundy, Eret, Dream, Techno, Tubbo, and Bad unaccounted for.”

“Yeah, where is Bad? Skeppy, I thought he was with you?” 

Skeppy looked up at Sapnap. “He went to get flowers with Tubbo.”

Silence fell across the group.

“Oh c’mon I can’t wait. I’m going to look for Bad.” Skeppy started to run towards the field. 

“Wait Skeppy, there could be something out there. We need to be careful!” Wilbur shouted after the diamond lover.

Tommy put a hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. “Don’t worry big guy, I’m going with him. Tubbo’s out there and I’m sure something is going on. I can’t just stand by while he could be in danger.” 

Wilbur still looked uncertain. “Tommy I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Tommy looked Wilbur dead in the eyes. “You know you can’t stop us. Not with Tubbo and Bad missing.”

Wilbur sighed. “Go get those two, but keep us notified on what’s going on. If you need any help-”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll message you. And besides, when are we not careful?” Tommy turned and ran after Skeppy. 

Wilbur hid his face in his hands.

“I’m sure they will all be okay Will,” said Niki.

A small tug on his pants caught his attention. He glanced down to see a small fox. “Fungi? Wait, do you know where Fundy is?”

Fungi responded by pulling on Wilbur’s pants, tugging him in the direction of Eret’s castle and whining. The fox unclamped his jaw, releasing the fabric, and started running towards the castle.

Wilbur started chasing after him with Niki close behind. All he could think about was finding Fundy. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing him.

The chase led them to what looked like a partially decorated cake, roughly five tiers tall. It wasn’t quite a masterpiece but Fundy and Eret had definitely been working hard on it. “So I’m guessing this was the big surprise.”

Niki nodded, leaning over to pick up a distressed Fungi. “They wanted me to teach them how to make some fondant flowers to put on it.”

“They’d really done a good job on it.”

He took a step closer to inspect it when a small glint caught his eye. He walked over to the counter and dusted the flower off of the item. “Oh no.”

Sitting in his hands was Eret’s signature glasses.

\-----

“Skeppy, slow down, this is where Tubbo would have gone,” Tommy yelled and the other man turned around and walked back.

“Then why aren’t they here?”

The two paused and stared at each other. Simultaneously, they started shouting. 

“Tubbo!”

“Bad are you there?”

“Tubbo where are you bitch?”

“Guys come out this isn’t funny.”

“Bad, I’m gonna start swearing until you get your fucking ass out here.”

“Tubbo, I found some bees.”

Tommy froze when he heard a faint buzzing sound. “Skeppy shut up. Tubbo?”

He walked closer to the sound and his heart sank. Lying there in the grass was a small bee. He carefully scooped the tiny creature up. “Oh no.” He’d hung around Tubbo and his bees enough to tell that this little guy wasn’t going to make it. It looked so confused and weak, struggling to move in his arms.

He glanced around for a flower when a small flash caught his eye. “Oh Tubbo…” Staring right back at him was the pufferfish necklace Tommy had given Tubbo. A small drop landed on his arm.

He heard a small gasp behind him. “No nononono no NO!” He turned around to see Skeppy clutching onto something. “No Bad,” he said with a small sob. Skeppy turned to the younger man with tears in his eyes, holding a yellow beanie matching the one on his head. Bad’s duck beanie.

Tommy looked down at the bee to see it had gone completely still. He felt something inside him break. “We’re not going to find them are we?”

\-----

To say Sapnap was worried would be an understatement. Surely they would have found someone by now. He looked up from his headband that he’d been playing with to see Wilbur and Niki walking back. 

His questions died in his throat before he could form the words. They didn’t need to say a thing. Their search was a fail. 

Stunned, the group sat in silence.

Wilbur was the first to speak up. “We should go check on Tommy and Skeppy.”

“Wait, I think I see someone.”

Everyone stood up and looked where George was pointing. Two figures were walking up the hill.

“Tommy?”

Skeppy and Tommy sat down at one of the tables. Skeppy folded his arms and buried his face in his hoodie sleeves. Tommy just stared at the table.

Wilbur sat down next to his brother and wrapped an arm around the other’s shoulder. “Tommy?” 

Tommy looked up at him with red, puffy eyes. “Yeah?”

Wilbur’s heart dropped at the uncertainty in the other’s voice. “We’ll find them. Tubbo’s going to be okay.”

Tommy turned and wrapped his arms around Wilbur, burying his face in his shoulder. He shook in his arms. The older man held his brother, swearing to himself that he wasn’t going to let anything bad like this happen again.

“Tommy, we’re going to find all of them.”

The younger boy unlatched his arms and wiped his eyes. “When we do, I’m gonna start stabbing shit.” 

“I know you will.”

“Do you think Techno’s okay?”

“I’m sure he’s fine. You know what Techno always says, ‘TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES’.”

The two brothers softly laughed at Wilbur’s bad impression.

“Thanks Will.”

“Hey, what are brothers for?”

The faint sound of wings flapping met his ears. The group looked towards the sunset at the small figure in the distance.

“No way.”

Philza landed with a whoosh of air, his powerful wings casting a large shadow on the ground. He looked across the group with worry covering his face. “I’m too late, aren’t I?”

Wilbur nodded solemnly. “Fundy, Tubbo, Eret, Bad, and Dream are gone.”

Phil reached into his bag, pulling out two items. A white mask and a crown. “They took Techno too.”

\-----

Unbeknownst to the SMP and its inhabitants, several figures were approaching the server from the East. A knight glanced across the planes, spotting the first sign of civilization they’ve seen in days. “Looks like we might be closer to finding them than we thought.” He steadily led the way with four others trailing behind. The queen of hearts, a red shirt wearing gremlin, a caffeinated innovator, and an omega ice lover of doom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be picking and choosing what parts of the canon I will be using, but this is set after the Pogtopia/Manburg stuff. 
> 
> Am I being a bit ambitious and biting off more than I can chew? Probably. Will I lose sleep over plotting for this? Yes. Is it worth it? YES! 
> 
> It's time to live life and never die like Techno. Thank you for reading through this mess. 
> 
> Any guesses on the other group?


	2. Enter the Hermits

“Okay, let’s go over the plan one more time.”

Tommy stared absentmindedly out the window. They had been at this for a few hours. Philza and Wilbur didn’t want to go running off half cocked. ‘Getting caught isn’t going to help Tubbo or Bad you two.’ He clenched his jaw. They were wasting too much time.

Phil stood over the large map laid out on the table. “Me, Wilbur, Tommy, Skeppy, and Sapnap are heading South following the tracks Sapnap and George had found. George and Niki are going to go to Sam’s bunker to help keep the other hybrids safe.”

George and Niki still didn’t look too happy about the decision but they knew that Phil was right.

The man looked down at the list in his hands. “We’ve got plenty of food, armor, weapons, and arrows for a week or two. Wilbur, did you find Techno’s horses?”

“Yeah. Me and Niki already have them saddled up with bed rolls for the five of us.”

Philza nodded approvingly. “Tommy, how was your luck on finding potions?”

“Me and Skeppy found another one of Techno’s not-so-hidden bases, so we’re loaded.”

The older people went back to talking about how much the horses would be able to carry and numbers and shit, so Tommy went back to staring out the window.

God he hated this. He hated feeling so useless. Somewhere out there was Tubbo, all alone and scared. He played with the pufferfish necklace in his hand, thinking about his friend. That look on his face when he saw a bee, his little giggle, the way he would often fidget with the end of his sleeve when he was trying to contain his energy. He held onto the happy memories, but he couldn’t help the bad ones come in too. The sadness when Phukitt had died, his constant nervousness after Schlatt had shown up, the fear in his eyes that dreadful day on the stage, that crack in his voice when he looked at Techno right before--

Tommy blinked away the tears before they could roll down his cheeks. Now wasn’t the time for that. He needed to focus on finding Tubbo.

He looked down at the trees swaying in the breeze, the sun slowly setting, and some horses running in the distance. Hold on, horses? There weren’t any wild horses living in this part of the server. Tommy rubbed his eyes, but sure enough the horses were still running closer. Oh no. They had riders.

“Uh Phil, I think I see some riders coming towards us.”

The others ran towards the window, pushing up against each other to get a good view out. 

“Grab your swords.”

\-----

Wels could feel some of the others getting antsy. It was easy with how their horses were getting more prancy, slowly increasing their speed. He patted his horse. She had been doing so great in showing self control, something that the others seemed to struggle a little bit with. “We want to be careful, we have no idea what kind of people these are.”

False pulled up aside him, her hair flowing in the wind. “I think our presence has already been noticed.”

Wels squinted to try and make out what False was pointing out. Along the short walls of the town were several figures in mismatched armour. Several of them were wearing full Netherite, but a few had diamond and iron mixed in. They all had weapons and shields at the ready. In the middle of them stood a man with large feathery wings.

The Hermits slowed their pace down to a walk, trying desperately not to provoke the settlers this time. The others were being uncharacteristically quiet and he pulled ahead of them to take the lead on this one as they had discussed.

Once they were in earshot, Wels called out to them. “Hello there friends! We didn’t want to bother you. We were just hoping to pass on through.”

The people all looked to the winged man. He motioned to the others and they lowered their bows and crossbows. 

When the Hermits were at a closer range, Wels could make out their faces better to see a trace of fear. He stopped with the Hermits pulling up beside him.

“Set down your weapons. I have a few questions to ask you,” the man called back.

Wels swung off his horse, unclipping his sheathe and setting it on the floor. He wasn’t quite defenseless, but he needed to put his best foot forward. 

“Who are you?” the voice asked.

“I am Wels Knight and we are some of the Hermits from the Hermitcraft Server.”

A few surprised murmurs came from the settlers. “Holy shit.”

Grian spoke up from behind him. “Hold on, I recognize some of these people. Tommy, is that you?”

The youngest defender froze in shock while the others turned to stare at him. “Big G?”

“Tommy, how do you know this person?” 

False piped up, “We’ve met some of you at that tournament that Scott Smajor put on not too long ago. Me and Grian went with Ren and Cub.”

Tommy walked forwards with some of the others to bridge the gap between them while False pointed out some of the others to Wels as she recognised them. “The one with the beanie is Wilbur Soot, he likes to write music in his spare time. The one with the large wings is Philza Minecraft, the kid is Tommy Innit, and Mr netherite axe over there is Sapnap. Oh, and I think the one with the goggles is George NotFound.”

The Hermits dismounted and approached the others. 

“So what are you Hermits doing all the way out here?” Wilbur asked.

Impulse and Grian looked at Wels uncomfortably, so he sighed and spoke up. “Not any good news I’m afraid. Six of the Hermits have gone missing.”

The SMPers looked at eachother. “Let’s talk through this inside.”

\-----

“You didn’t seem surprised and you have horses packed up outside. Have people gone missing here too?”

Wilbur nodded solemnly. “Dream, Techno, Fundy, Eret, Bad, and Tubbo are all missing.”

Grian glanced over at Tommy. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine once we find them.” Tommy poked the baked potato he was eating with a fork. 

Philza looked at Wels. “If you don’t mind me asking, who are you looking for?”

Wels swallowed his bite of potato. “Docm77 our cyborg creeper mad scientist, Cubfan the vex capitalist, Rendog the wolf Hybrid, Tango the explosive demon, Etho the enderman ninja, and X, our Voidwalker Admin.”

Sapnap nearly choked on his baked potato. “Your Admin is a Voidwalker? They are real?”

Iskall chuckled, “Uhh yeah?”

“So can he like, touch the void and stuff and not die?”

  
“Well he can do a lot of stuff with him also being an admin and all.”

“Besides sleep and take care of himself apparently,” Impulse muttered under his breath.

“Sapnap, did you not think Voidwalkers existed?” asked Wilbur, poking his potato with a fork.

“Uh not really. I didn’t think that anyone could survive the void.”

“You do realize Eret can do that right?” Everyone stared at Wilbur with wide eyes. “C’mon, surely you guys knew that they aren’t entirely human, I mean have you seen Eret’s eyes?”

“Eret has mentioned that they have some sort of a connection to the void, but they never found out what was up with that,” Niki said, petting Fungi.

George shifted in his seat. “Are you saying that Eret could be a voidwalker?”

“There’s no way they are a Voidwalker.” Everyone’s focus shifted to Iskall. “I’ve talked with Fundy before and he mentioned Eret had a connection to the void, but from what I heard they can breathe just fine on their own.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sapnap asked.

“Have any of you seen Xisuma before?” The SMPers shook their heads. “Well, he’s got this helmet that he has to wear all the time in the overworld due to how thick the air is here. He can take it off for a little bit at a time, but if he keeps it off for too long he starts to suffocate.”

False cut in, “X doesn’t really like to talk about it.”

The group went back to eating their wonderful Techno-grown baked potatoes. Before long Tommy broke the silence. “How long have you been looking for them?”

The Hermits all looked down disheartenedly. “Thirteen days.”

Reality settled back in. “Oh.”

Wilbur cut in, “Well you’ve got our help now, right?” He chuckled awkwardly, trying to keep the group’s spirits up.

“And we’ve gained quite a bit of info along the way,” Wels pointed out. 

“What kind of information?” Philza asked.

“We know that they are after non-humans, but particularly hybrids.” Grian fluttered his small wings a bit. 

Sapnap set his fork down. “Why? What do they want with them?”

The Hermits all looked at Wels to deliver the news. “Um, profit?” The others had a look of confusion plastered on their faces.

False sighed. “They seem to be running a bit of a black market for ‘rare species’”

Tommy practically snarled and Skeppy stood up, knocking his chair down. “They WHAT?”

“How did you find this out?” Philza said, his calm demeanor betrayed by the small waver in his voice.

“My evil twin told me he saw ‘that annoying Admin of yours’ for sale.” Wels regretted speaking the moment the SMPers all whipped around to look at him. “Hels has some questionable hobbies and connections to the dark web.”

Tommy sank in his chair. “Oh god.”

Phil looked around at the others. “I think it’s time for you all to go to bed. I’m going to talk things over with some of the Hermits.” The table erupted into protests, but Phil silenced them. “Please, just go to bed. We have a big day tomorrow.” 

Wilbur opened his mouth but stopped at the tired look his dad gave him. Wil nodded and walked over to Tommy. “How about we show these guys where they can stay the night?”

Wels tried to swallow against the lump in his throat. “I think I’ve got this one, you should all head to bed.”

“Are you sure about that man? You’ve done a lot today.” Impulse looked at him with concern. 

Wels nodded. “I should probably be the one to relay the information, seeing how it was Hels who gave us most of that info. And besides, I’ve had plenty of practice taking naps on horseback.”

Wilbur led the others down a hallway, leaving Philza and Wels alone.

“How big of an organization are we talking about?”

Wels started to regret his decision to tell Phil on his own. “Huge. Apparently this man who calls himself the Collector has been running a black market for Hybrids and the like for years. He’s slowly grown his own sort of country that I’ve only heard referred to as the Compound. No one quite knows how many goons he has, but he’s been able to kidnap hundreds of Hybrids in his reign.”

Phil sat scarily still, processing this information. “How come I’m just now hearing about it?” 

“Those who work with the Collector are pretty tight lipped. And as far as most kingdoms are concerned, he’s in his right to be doing this. The few that have opposed him in the past have never been able to find the Compound, or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”   
  


“And this twin of yours, Hels?”

Wels sighed. “He’s done his fair share of death and destruction to work his way up in some darker crowds.”

“Why would he tell you?”

“Mostly to gloat. He had assumed that we would find out anyway and wanted to be the one to bring us the information.”

“Makes sense. Now what more can you tell me about this- Compound?”

Wels bit his lip. This was the hard part. “Grian was able to speak to a Hybrid that had been taken and sold by the Collector a few days ago and from what he could tell us-- the conditions they are in are bad.”

He paused but Philza just looked at him expectantly.

“They um, specialize in the training and experimentation of Hybrids.”

Phil’s face darkened. 

“In normal conditions they keep a Hybrid for around four months before putting them up for sale.”

“And these aren’t normal conditions?”

“They’ve decided to set up an event, an auction of some sorts, to sell off a rare being they ‘acquired’ recently. One that poses a huge threat to their operation. A Voidwalker Admin.”

“Your Admin?”

“Yeah, Xisuma. His ability to tap into code and connect with the void can allow him to trespass into certain areas and cause irreversible damage.”

Phil raised an eyebrow. “And someone believes that they could control him and force X to do something like that?”

Wels nodded. “That’s what the Collector seems to believe.”

“When’s this auction supposed to be?” 

“A week from tomorrow.”

Phil swore under his breath. “Do you think we can make it in time?”

Wels hesitated. “Yes.”

Philza seemed to notice Wels’ hesitation and looked him dead in the eye. “Wels. What aren’t you telling me here?”

Wels swallowed. “There is more than just an auction. There’s supposed to be some cage fighting.”

Philza sank in his chair a little bit.

“And Phil. They’re saying there will be some big duel.”

“Who?”

“Dream and Techno.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh gosh more people read this than I thought would happen. Hey y'all! You are great and I apologize in advance... just in general. 
> 
> But yeah, the Hermits are here! The further into this I write the more I realize how much of an unholy amalgamation this is of so many fics I've read here and elsewhere. 
> 
> Let me know if you want to see more of a certain character because I am, sadly, biased towards my favorites but I'd like to see who you guys want to see. Thank you guys so much for reading and commenting, it really makes my day.


	3. A Proposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! Nightmare, panic attacks, and throw up ahead.

The ground beneath him jerked, tossing him around in this little cage. Tubbo felt his head bash against one of the bars, adding to his already throbbing headache. His fingers still ached from when he had gripped onto the bars before, only for them to be smashed by one of the thugs. 

He tried to close his eyes, tried to ignore the pain, the tears, the fear. It hadn’t been very long since he was in a box like this one. Schlatt standing over him. ‘I knew this whole time.’ The confusion and fear in Techno’s eyes. Wilbur’s words of reassurance. Niki’s cries. Staring down the barrel of a crossbow. ‘I’ll make it as painless as possible.’ A flash, a bang, the burning. Tommy’s shout. 

Tubbo pulled at his shirt. It was so hot, he was so hot, why was it so hot? His scars still burned, the smell of gunpowder in the air. Oh god oh god. This isn’t good. His whole body was shaking. Was he shivering? He couldn’t be, he felt like he was burning. Always burning.

“Tubbo?”

He flinched. He knew that voice, how could he forget it? 

“Dream, DREAM! Come on, wake up. I need your help.”

Tubbo curled up even smaller. Techno sounded worried, and almost- muffled?

“Tubbo, please, I’m sorry. Can you please look at me?”

He slowly uncurled enough to look up into the same red eyes that had haunted his dreams, ignoring the voice inside his head screaming at him. 

Techno’s condition shocked Tubbo. His long hair had been roughly cut, partially tangled up in it’s old braid. The iconic crown was missing, and one eye was starting to swell shut. And covering the lower half of his face was a muzzle of some sort. His tusks poked out holes cut in the leather, looking a little bloodstained. 

“I need you to go over the 5 to 1 exercise Phil taught you, do you think you can do that?” Techno’s voice was hoarse, but steady and calming. Nothing like it had been before.

Tubbo nodded. Philza’s voice rang through his head. ‘Tell me five things you can see.’ 

“I see,” he tried to focus on his surroundings. “The bars, your cloak, my shirt, your boots-” He let out a yelp as a bump tossed him into the bars. 

“You are doing so good Tubbo, one more.”

A black lump on the floor caught his attention. “Fundy’s hat?”

Techno turned to look at the hat, but turned his focus back onto Tubbo. “Good, now four things you can feel,” Techno’s voice joined Phil’s.

“I- I feel the cold metal, Tommy’s ribbon, my shirt’s buttons, and the handcuffs.” He had uncurled enough to show Techno the cuffs locked on his wrists. 

The anarchist’s face grew dark when he saw them, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Techno then opened them and looked at Tubbo with concern. “Three things you can hear?”

Tubbo’s vision swam. He brought his hands up to rub his eyes. Trying to block out the pounding in his head, he listened. “Your voice, the guard’s footsteps-” 

A loud banging interrupted him. “Shut up or I’ll make you.”

Techno let out a low rumble, almost sounding like a growl. The thug spat at the Hybrid and walked away. 

Tubbo looked at Techno who just nodded at him encouragingly. “You’re so close,” Techno whispered.

“Fundy’s snoring,” he whispered back.

“He’s one noisy sleeper. Two.”

Tubbo sniffed. “I smell dirt and... smoke?”

Realization spread across Techno’s face but he wasn’t sure what the older man was thinking. “Okay, one thing you can taste.”

“Blood.” The metallic tang filled his mouth.

Techno shifted into a sitting position. “How are you feeling, kid?”

His breathing had slowed down and he let out a small cough. His body and head still ached, but his heart wasn’t pouding as much anymore. “I’m okay.”

He heard a sigh of relief and he could almost make out a little, “Thank goodness for Phil.”

“Who’s th’re?” Bad’s voice came from behind Techno’s cage.

Techno turned around. “Me and Tubbo are awake. I can see Dream and Fundy from here.” 

A low voice came from behind Tubbo. “Tubbo is that you?”

He nearly jumped and spun around to see a large figure cramped in another cage. “Eret?”

“It’s me Tubbo. What’s happening?” They had a sack over their head, and their hands tied behind their back. 

Techno spoke up, “I think some Hybrid hunters got us.”

“How many of us did they get?”

“Just you, me, Tubbo, Dream, Fundy, and Bad by the look of things.”

“Is everyone okay?”

Tubbo started to nod but quickly realized his mistake. “I’m okay.”

“I think ’m good too,” Bad said, his words sounding slightly slurred.

Techno frowned, but if he disagreed he didn’t make it vocal. “A little bruised and I think I might be bleeding, but I’m fine.”

Silence fell across the group. How in the name of Notch were they supposed to get out of this one?

\-----

_ Tommy looked around at the night sky. He and Wilbur had been watching the festivities for some time and he couldn’t handle watching everyone down there. His heart ached. In simpler times he would be right there with them. He’d be laughing and smiling, enjoying everyone’s company. He hadn’t told Wilbur or Techno but he was getting really lonely down in that ravine. Sure he’d seen Niki around and Tubbo in those rare moments he had been able to get away, but it wasn’t helping too much.  _

_ He wrapped his arms around him, holding back a sob. God what he’d give for a hug. Next chance he’d get, he would hold onto someone and refuse to let go. Tommy pushed back that little voice telling him that maybe he was the clingy one. It was true, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.  _

_ “Oh look at Techno absolutely destroying them in wrestling. The fools thought they could take down the Blood God himself.” Wilbur was looking out past the ledge, completely oblivious to the pain Tommy felt. _

_ Even Techno, the self pronounced anarchist, was invited to this “festival”. He focused on the anger. He couldn’t be dealing with these feelings right now, they had a festival to ruin. _

_ He stood up next to Wilbur. The people had started to make their way to the stage where Tubbo was standing next to Jschlatt. Bile rose in his throat at the sight.  _

_ Schlatt has said some unimportant and self-flattering words before he stepped back to let Tubbo take his place behind the mic.  _

_ Tommy knew something was wrong but there was nothing he could do. Everything happened way too fast. Schlatt’s laugh cut off Tubbo. The yellow box- no cage popped up. He had screamed at Wilbur as Techno was brought to the stage, but Wilbur was certain that Techno was on their side. There was no way he would kill Tubbo. _

_ Then the flash and the bang, Tubbo’s cries of pain, Techno’s blood-thirst, the onlookers panic. And then the warp of his pearl. He looked down in horror, watching his friend’s corpse slowly fade away. _

“TUBBO!!” Tommy woke up screaming. It was dark, the faint lantern light from the hallway peeking out from the crack under the door as his only source of light. His heart was racing, his breathing heavy. 

Across the room a figure stirred. “Tommy?”

The voice registered in his ears but he couldn’t process it. The image of Tubbo decaying in front of him, his body all burned, was seared into his mind. That stench of rotting and burning flesh suffocating him. 

He lurched and a trashcan was shoved into his hands, right before his stomach gave in and the baked potatoes from last night came back up. A strong hand rubbed his back as he threw up until he was dry-heaving. 

“It’s okay Tommy, I’m here.”

Tommy looked up, expecting to see those emerald eyes, but instead found himself staring into dark brown ones. “Wilbur?”

“Yup, I’m here bud.”

He grabbed a corner of his blanket to wipe away his tears. “Thanks Wil.”

“Are you guys alright?” A gentle voice came from the door. Phil was standing in the doorway with his wings folded behind him, trying to look calm, but his feathers were ruffled.

“I’m okay.”

Phil looked to Wilbur who gave a short nod. He took that as a sign to walk in and sit down on the bed, sandwiching Tommy between him and Wil. He stretched out a wing and wrapped it around his sons while he pulled his youngest into his arms. 

Tommy felt himself relax in the embrace and bury his face in his fathers shoulder. He was shaking and sobbing, but Phil didn’t seem to mind. 

The two held him as he cried, silently comforting him. 

That morning when Niki had gone to look for Wilbur she found the three sound asleep, curled up on Tommy’s bed, looking more peaceful than they had in quite a long time. They had emerged not too much later, but she didn’t say a word about it.

\-----

Techno had already gotten used to the bumpiness of the ride when they suddenly came to a stop. 

Fundy and Dream had woken up an hour or so before, but no one really said a word after a guard had joined them all in the back. Even before then Dream had barely said anything at all, too busy avoiding eye contact with all of them. 

Whoever these hunters were, they seemed to know what they were doing, well, for the most part. Collars had been put on all of them which he assumed had some kind of inhibitor coded into it and they all had handcuffs of varying strengths on. Whatever they had injected him with had worn off a long time ago, but Bad had been acting drowsy and almost drunk-like ever since he woke up. 

Techno looked over at Tubbo who was frozen, terrified. Anger built up in him at the sight. Someone had really messed up when they decided to drag a child into this. He hadn’t seen Tubbo after the festival happened since he had been going to great lengths to avoid the kid. Techno didn’t want to traumatize him any more, but it seemed fate was cruel when he had woken up to Tubbo’s sobbing. Thank god for Phil’s training.

The large doors at the back of the truck swung open, letting light pour in. Techno shielded his eyes to let them slowly readjust. Heavy footsteps made their way closer and several thugs appeared. One was making his way over to Eret’s cage.

The door swung open with a creak and Eret cried out as the guards grabbed them. They struggled to no avail as they were dragged out of the van. 

The next cage was Tubbo’s, who was huddling in a corner. Techno let out an angry snort. “Get your filthy hands away from him.” 

They ignored his yelling as they swung Tubbo’s cage wide open and grabbed onto him. One pulled out a special gas mask looking thing and Techno lurched at the bars. His guess was right. They had been using smoke on Tubbo. 

Tubbo’s wings buzzed frantically but the mask was snapped over his mouth and nose. His small body fell to the floor with a tiny thud as the guards watched. None of them had made a move to catch him. 

His vision was starting to turn to red. He could feel the bloodlust rising. How dare they? He was going to tear them all apart. Techno stumbled back, trying to hold himself back. He didn’t want anyone to see him like that. The shackles were weighing him down, not to mention the blood loss, but he knew they wouldn’t be enough. Not much had been able to stop him in the past.

His head snapped up at the sound of his door being open. A snarl left his lips and he lunged at the unfortunate guard who decided to walk in first. The Blood God slammed him into the ground and bashed his head into a bar, looking for the next target, grunting angrily. A shock coursed through his body and Techno snapped back into reality. 

“Listen here you brute.” He quickly turned to see one guard holding Tubbo with a knife held up to his throat. “Any more funny business and they’ll be mopping up the kid’s blood.”

Techno was faintly aware of Bad and Fundy crying out behind him, but his attention was focused on the guard. 

“Now, hands up and face against the wall.”

Anger burned inside of him, but he begrudgingly listened. Immediately guards shoved him into the wall. One in particular grabbed onto one of his tusks and used it to push his face into the metal. His head was at a weird angle and his throat was far too exposed for his liking.

His fears were realized as a needle was stabbed into his neck and his body collapsed, only the guards holding him up. “I see you don’t like my little cocktail. Weakness to a whole new level.”

Techno just grunted, holding back a sarcastic remark. 

“Not so fierce now Mutt?”

He looked up at the chatty guard. “You think you are so strong and powerful now, but trust me. When I am through with you, the plants won’t be able to tell the difference between your ugly face and manure as you rot as fertilizer.

The punch to the face was expected, but he wasn’t anticipating just how much it would hurt with the weakness. It felt like he was twelve again, fighting for his life. “The Collector wants to have a word with him.”

Techno really didn’t want to talk to anyone, much less someone who had the class of a dinner fork going by the name the Collector. But I guess if his enemy insists. 

The guards half dragged him out of the van and Techno could finally get the grips of their surroundings. They were in a large room that had the air of a shipping warehouse. Dozens of guards were on watch, all wearing a tacky yellow and brown uniform that made Techno want to stab something at the sight of it.

He was brought up a flight of stairs to a door where Chatty flashed his badge to the guards who activated the door. It was surprisingly remarkable and a door that most people would marvel at, but to him, you’ve seen one redstone door, you’ve seen them all. 

Inside was a white hallway with a large portion of a wall made of glass, leading into a farm. By Techno’s standards, it was an amature farm at best. “Man, I’ve seen Irish famines with more potatoes.”

One of the guards holding him up snickered, but stifled any laughter when Chatty whipped around to glare at them. “And who do you think you are, some potato farm connoisseur?”

“Oh I know I am. Got the rank of best potato farmer in Hypixel to prove it.”

“That good-for-nothing kingdom’s word means nothing. That rank won’t get you shit in here. You are just some pig who has forgotten its place.”

“Some pig who could farm more potatoes in his sleep than this place has ever seen, and still have the time to destroy some thug with a power complex.”

Chatty’s face turned red and he stood there fuming, struggling to say a word. 

The guard on Techno’s right spoke up. “Sir, the Collector won’t want to be kept waiting.”

The blood drained from Chatty’s face and he wordlessly turned around, continuing to lead them down the hallway. Techno glanced back at the farm and he could have sworn he saw a certain familiar squid.

After an ungodly amount of hallway turns and stairs, they finally stopped outside a reinforced iron door. One guard standing in front of it nodded and opened the door, letting them drag Techno in and throw him into an empty chair.

Sitting across from him behind an expensive looking desk was a man in a suit. His smirk and glint in his eye was somewhat reminiscent of a certain horned businessman. 

His shackles snapped into place on the chair, holding his arms in place. “You know, when my goons told me they caught the infamous Technoblade I hardly believed them, but now that I see you in person, I’m just surprised we haven’t caught you before.”

“Well, when I was dragged here I expected to talk to a self-pretentious coward, but I am surprised to see you are an idiot as well.” Techno knew that maybe this wasn’t the best time to aggravate the man who has some of his friends’ lives on the line, but he couldn’t help himself.

The businessman glared. “I see I’ll have to have some manners beaten into you, but I’m a busy man so that will have to wait for later. I have a proposition for you.”

Worry fluttered inside him but he kept up his uninterested act. “A proposition?”

“You see, I have a rather large auction coming up, but I had been struggling to find entertainment for the night. I have some small fights set up, but I couldn’t find the main event. That was until I came in possession of two of the best pvpers in the world. Technoblade, the Blood God himself, and the one and only Dream.” Oh god. “Only thing I have to do now is get you two to fight and I’ll have an event that people will be talking about for years to come.”

The Collector stood up and walked over to Techno. He grabbed his jaw and tilted Techno’s head backwards. Techno would have bit him if it weren’t for the muzzle. “Go jump in the void.”

The other man laughed. “Oh not yet my pet.” Techno angrily snorted, which just seemed to amuse him further. “Now, don’t get me wrong, you will be fighting in this match. It’s up to you and your behavior what you’ll get out of this. Like say… your freedom.”

“No way I’m fighting Dream for your amusement.”

“If you won’t fight for your freedom, then how about someone else’s?” He let go of Techno’s face. “I have one of your brothers after all, that small one you are all so protective of.” 

Oh god Tubbo. “He’s not my brother.” He couldn’t let them know how much he cares or let them hurt Tubbo just to get to him. 

“Maybe, but if anything were to happen to little Tubbo then Tommy would be wrecked wouldn’t he. And I know you are fiercely protective of the bee Hybrid, brother or not.”

“I see you’ve done your homework.”

“What can I say? I got to the top for a reason. And remember, I hold the power here. You will do what I tell you to. Be a shame if I were to damage the goods. Bee Hybrids are very expensive after all.”

“So this duel. I win and you let Tubbo go.”

He let out another burst of laughter. “If you can defeat Dream then the kid is free to go back to those petty wars you were having. Maybe he’d be able to look at you again after you publicly executed him. And with fireworks as well yet you think I’m the bad guy here?” Techno tried to hold back a snarl. “But of course, if you lose then I’m sure I’ll find someone looking for a new play-thing. I happen to know a man who just loves to see the light slowly die out of his pets. It’s a real shame that he gets bored of them real quick. At least he has the decency to preserve the pretty ones. His taxidermy skills are rather impressive.”

Techno could see red. He was going to paint the walls crimson with this man. “Enough. I’ll fight in your stupid duel.”

“Glad to see you have some reasoning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to thank you guys so much. I really wasn't expecting this many people to read this. It really makes my day to see a people commenting and reading this mess.
> 
> I'll be honest, there is so much going on in the Dream SMP that I am overwhelmed with all the new stuff. Most of the current stuff won't make it's way into this story, but one thing I am totally adding is Techno hearing voices. I nearly screamed when Techno said his chat was cannon. He doesn't hear the voices all the times, just in little episodes (Almost like they are during streams-). I'll probably do quite a bit with Techno because I had a blast writing him.
> 
> P.S. Sorry the Hermits didn't show up at all in this chapter, they'll get the spotlight soon.


	4. Getting the Ball Rolling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is a bit more messy and/or incoherent. I've been working on it for a while but editing this I didn't sleep last night so I hope I didn't miss something big.

Eret was panicking. What was happening? They were being dragged along since every attempt to walk or try and break away had ended the same: dragged along endless twists and turns. Walking, walking, walking and then-- nothing. A door slamming open and then they were falling. They twisted with what control they had so that their shoulder was the thing slamming into the floor rather than their face. A wise decision seeing how hard the floor was.

A short cry of pain escaped their lips as the shock of the impact bolt through their shoulder. One of the guards snickered before the door slammed shut again. “Looks like the boss’ favorite pest gets a new roommate. Or, well, his old favorite pest. Got the feeling one of the new batch will be taking that title from you.”

Footsteps clicked down the hallway, slowly dissipating into silence. 

“Are you okay?” a soft voice asked him.

“Who are you? Where am I?”

A pause. “I’m going to help sit you up and take off that sack, is that alright?”

Eret sighed into the floor. “Not much I can do to stop you. Go ahead.”

Strong arms lifted him up into a sitting position. The sack came off revealing concerned eyes behind a purple visor. “Let me see if I can untie your hands real quick before I answer any questions.” The ropes holding back their arms fell to the ground in moments. “There you go.”

"Thank you." Eret rubbed their raw wrists as the stranger walked over to a bunk bed and sat down, patting the spot next to him. Eret walked over and sat beside him. “So who are you? I never caught your name.”

The man was tall, only a little bit taller than him, but he held himself in a way that made him look smaller. He was wearing a black undershirt and some gray pants. His arms were covered in scars of various shapes and sizes in different stages of healing. He was, admittedly, quite attractive and very muscular which the undershirt didn’t do much to hide. But the most interesting thing was his gray helmet with a purple visor. “My name’s Xisuma, but most people just call me X.”

“I’m Eret.” Eret opened their mouth to ask a question but noise out in the hallway cut him off. 

The cell door once again slammed open and two guards holding a small figure stepped in. A guard gave the two a look and they quietly froze on the bed. Horror held back the gasp Eret wanted to release when he realized who the figure was.

One of the guards pulled the gas mask off of Tubbo and let him fall to the floor with a small thump. Eret nearly lunged at a guard when they had nudged Tubbo’s still form with his toe, but X held him back. “Good luck trying to fix this one Voidwalker. You are the resident bee expert after all. Should be right up your alley.” Eret glared as the guards left.

The moment the cell door shut the two were on the ground, kneeling over Tubbo. “Help me hold him up.”

Eret obeyed Xisuma’s order and picked the beehybrid up into Eret’s arms, letting his head lean against their shoulder. A hand went up to brush Tubbo’s hair out of his face.

“Here.” Eret looked up at X, surprised as the man took off his helmet and put it over Tubbo’s head. “Guards were most likely using smoke to sedate him and the helmet should help him get back to breathing normally.”

They watched as his breathing started to even out. Eventually, after a minute or so of X convincing them, Eret let X help them set Tubbo down comfortably on one of the beds. 

A cough brought their attention back onto Xisuma. “Are you okay? Wait, your helmet, don’t you need it?”

“I’m fine. I can survive without the helmet for a few minutes. Besides, he probably needs it more than I do.” X’s voice grew quite as he looked down at Tubbo with guilt plastered all over his face, shown very clearly now that he wasn’t wearing his helmet. He awkwardly ran a hand through his unkempt brown hair that had probably seen better days. It looked like it hadn’t been washed in a few days. A large X shaped scar covered his pale face. His alert green eyes were betrayed by the massive bags under them. 

“He seems to be breathing just fine now, and you look like you need to sleep.”

Xisuma rubbed his eyes. “I’m fine,” he lied as he broke off into a coughing fit. Eret took the helmet off of Tubbo’s sleeping form and shoved it onto the other man’s head.

“And I’m a bunny rabbit. Go to sleep. I can watch over Tubbo.”

An eyebrow shot up. “You know him?”

“Yeah, he’s almost like a brother to me. We were taken from the same place. In fact, six of us all got taken at the same time.”

X looked down, thinking. “Interesting,” he muttered, barely audible. He turned away from Eret and climbed up the bunk on the other side of the room. Once he had settled in the bed he spoke again but louder. “Get some sleep, you’ll need it tomorrow.” 

Eret took the time to look around the cell. It wasn’t much, just two bunk beds and a partially walled off toilet. The walls were made of solid stone bricks and there was no break in them other than the door itself. Looking down at Tubbo, they realized that he had curled up against them. Carefully, they shifted the two of them into a better position on the bed and pulled the threadbare blanket over them. Slowly, to the sound of faint buzzing, Eret drifted off to sleep.

Across the room, X sat up once he heard Eret’s breathing even out. Reaching into a hole in his mattress, he pulled out a small device. He had work to do and the deadline was getting ever so closer. 

\-----

Fundy pounded his fist against the cell door. The guards ignored him and walked away, laughing. 

“You okay there dude?” Fundy froze. He wasn’t alone in here. 

He slowly turned around to see a brown haired man sitting on a bed. “Oh, hi there,” he said awkwardly.

The other man laughed and Fundy caught a glimpse of fangs. He also noted a furry set of dog ears poking out of his long hair that was pulled out of his face in a messy bun. “Hello there. Name’s Ren.”

Fundy could have sworn he had heard that name before. “I’m Fundy.”

Ren’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Hold on, Fundy as in It’s Fundy?”

“Uh, yeah?” He shifted uncomfortably.

“Iskall has told me quite a bit about you.”

It all clicked. “Oh that’s where I’ve heard your name. Ren D. Dog right? I think we also went to that tournament a while back.”

“That’s right! It’s good to see you man! Wish it was under better circumstances though.” Ren had stood up and his tail was wagging.

“Yeah, what is this place anyway?”

Ren gestured around him. “This my friend is the Compound. A not so nice headquarters of a not so nice group of Hybrid hunters.”

Fundy noticed some bruising on Ren’s face and the dullness of the fur on his ears and tail that contrasted quite powerfully with his bright eyes. “Yeah, they brought me here with five of my friends.” He swallowed. “Exactly how bad?” 

Ren’s smile fell. “Depends really on how well you behave and on how ‘useful’ they deem you.” He scoffed, “Most of the guards here are a joke but there’s not much you can do.”

“Well someone’s got to find this place eventually. I know my friends will be hunting this place down.”

“Yeah.” Ren looked away. “That’s what I thought.”

A lump formed in his throat. “H-how long have you-” Fundy’s voice came out quiet. 

“Twelve days I think? But that doesn’t count the journey here. Hard to tell time in those trucks.”

“Oh.”

Silence fell across them.

“We should get some sleep. You’ll need it.”

\-----

Philza shielded his eyes from the sun. It was a rather lovely day out, not a cloud in sight.

“Wait Sapnap!”

Two minutes. They went a whole two minutes before one of the others, who were supposed to stay behind mind you, caught up to them.

Phil brought his horse to a stop and turned on his saddle. Looking past the others he spotted George running.

George ran up to Sapnap’s horse and rested a hand against it to catch his breath. “Take this.” He pulled a small shiny object from his bag. 

Sapnap’s eyes went wide. “George you genius.”

George smiled.

“You mind sharing with the class?”

The two seemed to realize the rest of them were staring at them. “Oh right.” Sap held up the object, a compass, for the other to see. “It’s the compass we use to find Dream when we do our, uh, Manhunts. It always points to Dream or the last portal he entered if he’s in another dimension.”

Holy shit. “Holy shit. Why didn’t you bring that up before?!”

George coughed. “We kind of-”

“Forgot about it.” Sapnap ran his hand through his hair sheepishly.

“Antfrost reminded me it existed.”

Oh my goodness. “Well thank goodness for Ant, that is a great idea.”

George smiled. “Well, that’s all. Uh good luck.” 

The group continued their path while the two said goodbye again. Sapnap would be able to catch up.

\-----

“Has the compass changed at all?”

Oh gods help him. “Tommy, like I said the last ten times you asked, I will tell you when it starts to shift.”

“Okay. Do you think I could-”

“HEy,” Wels interrupted Tommy. “Why don’t we sing a shanty? To help pass the time.” Phil looked at Wels with a thankful smile. 

“Which one?” one of the Hermits, Impulse he thinks, asked. 

Tommy leaned forward. “Is there any about women?”

Wels laughed and smiled. “Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,” Wels broke out in song with a powerful voice. It was actually pretty impressive how he could sound so good at that volume. Iskall laughed with Sapnap while False and Wilbur rolled their eyes.

“Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain.” Tommy was sitting in his saddle with excitement. “For we’ve received orders for to sail for old England.” Wels hung onto the phrase dramatically and Tommy burst into his laugh. “And we never may see you fair ladies again.”

To Phil’s surprise the other Hermits all joined him in the chorus. “We’ll rant and we’ll roar like true British sailors. We’ll rant and we’ll roar, all on the salt seas. Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England. From Ushant to Scilly ‘tis thirty-five leagues.”

Wels continued into the second verse, getting Skeppy and even Wilbur into the spirit. By the time he hit the chorus, everyone was trying to sing along, from Tommy’s delayed phrases to Skeppy’s bursts of enthusiasm.

Phil took the time to enjoy the moment and watch all of them sing and laugh together. He didn’t join in until the chorus hit again and Wels paused his singing to shout, “And you too Phil.” He sang, not quite as loud as Wels, Iskall, and Skeppy, but he sang his best, trying to ignore that small pang in his heart wishing Techno, and Tubbo too, were here to join in.

When the song was over, everyone’s minds were off of their circumstances and Phil couldn’t help but to feel so grateful for Wels. 

Tommy was alongside Wels, trying to get him to sing another with Wilbur following, teasing Tommy a bit as they went. Sapnap was talking with False and Impulse about something and Skeppy was asking Iskall about his eye. Grian pulled right up alongside Phil.

“Hey Philza, can I ask you a question?”

“Other than the one you just asked? Go ahead.”

Grian’s wings gave a little nervous flutter. “Do you know what happened to the other- you know.” He gestured to their wings. 

Phil cleared his throat. “Oh well, I’m not quite sure.”

Grian looked down with disappointment.

“Do you want me to show you the old kingdom?” Phil cut in, not wanting to leave him disappointed. “You know, after this is all over?”

“You know where it is?”

He nodded. “Yeah, haven’t been there since I ran away though.”

“Oh. Well I’d love to see it, I’ve only heard stories. I was too young to remember when I was taken away.” It could have been a trick of the light but Phil could have sworn Grian’s eyes flashed purple.

“Yeah.”

They rode on in silence for a bit.

“Can I ask you about some stuff Wels told me the other day?”

Grian gave a quick nod.

“I was told you talked to a Hybrid that went through the Compound. How did that happen?”

“Oh, well,” Grian paused to think. “It’s kind of a long story but essentially earlier we had to pass through this kingdom, not a Hybrid friendly one, and I had to pretend to be a servant to get through. We got stopped by some knights who said we had to go talk with the king. They went to the meeting while I was forced to go into the servant quarters and I ran into one. He was an old friend actually. He wasn’t really the nicest before but- seeing him. Like that? No one deserves that. He explained what that place was like and then he was called off. Didn’t see him after.”

“I’m sorry.”

Grian shrugged, “Not much we can do with people like that king.”

A memory flashed through his mind. The wing clamps, the teasing, the pain- no. His sons couldn’t go through that. “Yeah, but at least more and more places are getting better, like Hypixel.”

“Yeah.”

Wilbur’s voice cut through their conversation. “ANTEATERS DON’T DESERVE RIGHTS!!”

Philza chuckled. “Oh not this again. Last time he wouldn’t stop shoving pictures of baby anteaters in my face and telling me that they would laugh as an orphanage burnt down.”

Grian looked back at Wilbur ranting to Iskall how gross anteaters were, a smile across his face.

Phil decided to leave Wil to his antics and pulled out the compass once again. He froze. “The compass has moved. We’re getting closer.”

\-----

Xisuma jumped and shoved the device back into its hiding place at the sound of a guard banging a baton across the iron bars of their cell. “Voidwalker, the Collector wants to have another talk with you.” This early?

Eret and Tubbo sat up in their bed and looked around confused. X jumped off his bunk, holding back a stream of swears at the sharp pain in his knee. He forgot it wasn’t completely healed. “I’ll be fine. Wait until mealtime. They’ll come and lead everyone to the mess hall. Don’t resist them. Look for Doc, a creeper cyborg, you can’t miss him. Tell him Shishwammy sent you and that the guards took me. He’ll help teach you guys about this place. I’ll be back.”

Eret looked confused but they nodded. “Look for Doc, Shishwammy sent us.”

A guard opened the cell. “Don’t make me drag you out of here.” Xisuma hurried out of the cell, glancing back at the two before two guards grabbed his arms. They walked down the hallway, past many identical cells. 

Once they got into the stairway one kicked the side of his injured knee. His legs fell out from under him and a small hiss of pain slipped out. “That’s what you get for making me late last time.”

Tears threatened to well up in his eyes, but he held them back. He wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. 

The guards continued to drag him up the stairs again, his feet scraping against the rough floors. It was the same path as always. His cell was one of the cells closest to that dreaded room. The White room. It was a padded room with blinding white walls and bright fluorescent lights. The floor was some sort of white concrete that was glazed over to prevent any blood stains. One of the walls appeared to be one giant mirror, but X knew better. It was one way glass. 

Xisuma was strapped down onto the chair with thick iron bands and left alone. The Collector would show up when he wanted to. Sometimes he would sit there freezing for a few hours, sometimes only for mere minutes before he showed up. He would bring in someone else to do the dirty work for him while he would ask questions or sometimes just gloat. And then after he has enough he would either leave him there to continue suffering or he would have guards drag him away.

The door swung open and the Collector walked in with his favorite torturer that X liked to call Chance. One day he had used knives, one time he used fire. This time he was holding a bucket of water and several guards trailed in behind them, all carrying water buckets.

“Let’s get this started.” His helmet was ripped off his head. “You will give me what I want."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know someone is going to get mad because I had Eret mention that X was attractive and I just wanted to say that that wasn't necessarily shipping, people can acknowledge someone is attractive while not being into them. But if you do want to see anything in here as shipping, go ahead. I know that in the future there will be some friendly flirting. I'm looking at you Ren, Mr. "Ladies get in line". And there will be talking about canon events that does involve canon shipping like the Fundy and Dream wedding (that hasn't happened quite yet) and other things that happened along with that. 
> 
> In summary, I don't care if you ship or not, just don't bother others that have a view different than you. Leave any negativity out of here. Please.
> 
> Also, I am probably going to write a oneshot book for different scenes that I felt were a bit too dark for this one. That might happen a while down the road though. Thank y'all for the nice comments, they really do make my day.
> 
> Oh yeah, and if you haven't heard Wels sing, you've got to listen to his sea shanties and stuff on Soundcloud.


	5. Knowledge is a Valuable Commodity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! Mentions of blood and descriptions of torture.

Doc sat hunched over his arm. “They had to mess with the fucking…” he muttered. Sparks flew off of the disconnected arm. “DAMN IT!” He shoved it back and scowled at it. Fixing an arm with only one arm, his non-dominant hand mind you, would be a pain in the neck in normal circumstances, but doing it without anything except for a few scraps of various machine parts he had acquired was a whole new level of pain. He’d rather have it ripped off again then have to fix it.

Well, that might be an unfair comparison. He blacked out halfway through the ordeal, so he couldn’t exactly account for all of the pain. But then again, this arm was being almost as stubborn as him. Nice to see his limbs share that quality with him, dismembered or not. 

Glancing around the room, he scanned for the other Hermits. His cell seemed to be the closest out of them all, so he was used to waiting for them. They would show up soon enough. But then again, X should have made it here by now. A frown made its way onto his face. Doc pushed the nagging thought that he could have ended up dead this time, and who knows if this place has any respawn system set up. No, Xisuma was coming. He was going to walk in that door any second.

“Uhh, hello? Are you Doc?”

Doc spun around to face the stranger. There were actually two of them, a tall person with blank white eyes and a small kid, a bee hybrid. “What does it mean to you?” A small hiss welled up in his throat. He wasn’t the most social person and the Compound had tested his very limited patience. The whole arm situation wasn’t exactly helping either. 

The kid’s eyes went wide and he stuttered, taking a step back. The other one took a small step closer, getting in between him and the kid. “Shishwammy sent us.”

Doc’s eyes went wide. “Zizuma sent you?”

“Yeah, we share a cell with X.” 

Doc gestured at the table. “Sorry about that. Here, have a seat. Where is X?”

The two looked at him uneasily but sat down across from him. “Some guards took him.”

“Already?” He knew that the Collector had his little “chats” with Xisuma daily, but never this early in the day. 

They silently nodded and one glanced at the arm currently in his hand nervously.

“Oh sorry, I’m usually a bit more put together. I probably scared you with the whole arm thing and the hissing. Sorry. Yesterday was a rough one.” He set the arm down on his lap. “Hi. I’m Doc Mossner or DocM or Doc for short. What are your names?”

The older one spoke with a deep voice. “My name’s Eret and this is Tubbo. We were taken from the Dream SMP with four others.”

“So six of you? That’s pretty interesting seeing how-” A certain flash of white hair caught his attention. “Oh hey, here comes a Hermit, Etho.” Doc raised his attached arm to catch Etho’s attention. 

Tubbo’s eyes went wide. “Like Etho’s Lab Etho?” He spoke with a sense of excitement like the one Grian had when he heard some of the old Hermits were returning.

“Uh, yeah?”

“I’ve been a fan of his work for as long as I can remember.”

Doc chuckled. He knew Etho’s name was well known in the redstone community. It would be kind of hard not to, seeing how one of his inventions, the Etho hopper clock, was well used even to this day. “So you’ve heard of old Etho but not of Mr. Doc M?” Doc said with pretend hurt.

“Oh come on Doc, you’re older than me.” Etho sat down by Doc. Tubbo went quiet but he was probably internally screaming. “So where’s X? And these are?”

“Having another ‘talk’ with the big boss man. This is Eret and Tubbo, X’s new cellmates. Just came in.”

“Oh speaking of cellmates.” Etho went and walked over to the kid he had met a few days ago and a new man in a green hoodie. He spoke a few words and led them over to the table. “Doc, you’ve met Ranboo but this here is-”

“Dream!” Tubbo ran up to him.

Etho chuckled. “Guess you two already know each other.”

Eret stood up. “He’s the admin of our server. Dream, have you seen any of the others?” 

The man shook his head, eyes staring at the floor. 

Ranboo stood there awkwardly so Doc gestured him over. He relaxed and sat down to the right of him. “Have the glasses been working?” Doc asked.

A hand went up to the pair of sunglasses. “Oh they’ve been working just fine, thank you for them.” Ranboo looked over at Dream. “He might need something too though.”

“So he’s an Enderman Hybrid?” A nod. “We’ll figure something out.” 

All Hybrids shared something with their parent mob. They could vary in so many different ways, with different people having different traits, but most Enderman Hybrid had some issue with people making eye contact or looking at their face. Different people would deal with it in different ways with sunglasses like Ranboo or in the case of Etho, his buff. Back in the NHO days, Etho struggled a bit more, but ever since one of his eyes started to lose sight a bit, he’s been just fine with the mask covering the lower half of his face.

Etho sat down next to Ranboo. “Got anything we could use for a mask?” 

Doc scratched his beard. “What did he use before?”

“Some porcelain mask with a smiley face on it.”

“Do you think Cub has one of his ConVex masks on him?”

“We’ll see when he gets here.”

Etho looked down at Doc’s arm sitting in his lap. “They-?”

“Yeah. Ripped it right off. Blacked out halfway through.”

Etho winced. “I was fortunate enough to have the whole day yesterday without any interruptions.” 

“Kind of reminded me of that one time BDubs accidentally-”

“Hey, we promised to never bring it up.”

The SMPers joined them at the table. “So-”

A loud gasp cut off Eret. “Fundy!” Tubbo ran off towards the door and hugged a Fox Hybrid. Ren was standing right next to them smiling.

“Another one of you guys?” 

Dream nodded. “Yeah, that’s Fundy.”

“Looks like he met Ren.”

The three made their way over to the table and sat down. “I see we’ve all made some new friends.” Ren had a big smile on his face. His smile dropped. “Where’s X?”

“Big boss has him.”

“This early?” Cub’s voice came from behind him.

“Yeah. Hey Cub, do you by chance have one of your ConVex masks?”

Cub looked at Doc slightly surprised. “Yeah, guards found it harmless. Why?”

Doc gestured to Dream which was slightly awkward because of his one arm. “Our friend here Dream could use it.”

Cub reached into his lab coat and pulled out an eerily familiar vex mask. “I expect to get that back after we get out of all this.” He slid it over to Dream who stared at it’s slightly creepy smile before reaching out and putting it on. “It’s actually one of Scar’s”

Dream looked around. “Wait I think I recognise some of you. From Scott’s tournament?”

“Oh dude, you’re  _ that _ Dream. Didn’t notice you without your mask.” 

Dream looked over at Ren. “Yeah. Not many people have seen my face.”

“Eret, you said there were six of you?” Doc asked.

Eret nodded. “We’re just missing Bad and Techno.”

“They got Techno too?” Cub sounded surprised.

How come everyone seems to know each other except him? 

“Where do you think he is?” Tubbo asked.

Etho stepped in. “He’s probably on his way since the Collector’s got his hands full with X.”

“Who is this X person anyway? He wasn’t at the tournament.” Dream leaned back in his chair.

“X is our admin. He’s a Voidwalker.”

Dream’s chair nearly fell backwards. “WHAT?”

Etho looked at Dream confused. “Yeah? Last time I checked.”

“No way, Voidwalkers are just a legend.”

Doc laughed. “They are very much real.”

“You’re kidding right?”

Eret spoke up. “Dude, do you really think they would lie?”

“But that’s insane? That’s impossible?”

Eret chuckled. “Says the man who jumped across lava using boats.”

“Touche.”

A deep voice cut into the conversation. “Hullo.”

Tubbo jumped up and hugged the strange Piglin Hybrid. “Techno!”

Eret, Fundy, and Dream all looked a little surprised but none as much as Techno. “Hi Tubbo.” Techno looked around and silently asked if the small Hybrid was okay. Eret nodded and Techno relaxed, picking up Tubbo, holding him as he sat down in Tubbo’s seat. “I see we’ve met some new people. Wait. You’re some of those Hermits aren’t you?”

Cub smiled. “Yeah. I remember you insulted my team’s matching jackets.”

“Oh right. Well, I’m Technoblade for those of you who don’t know me.”

Etho looked impressed. “Your reputation precedes you. Both your fighting and farming skills are spoken about a lot.”

Doc looked at Ranboo who seemed just as confused as him. Farming skills?

“There’s our missing piece.” Cub pointed over to where Tango and another demon walked in. 

“And ours as well. Hey Bad!” Fundy waved at the demons.

The two made their way to them and this time Tubbo did not jump up to greet them. He was wrapped up in Techno’s cloak.

Before they made it to the table, two guards cut them off and walked up to the group. “Dream. The Collector wants to have a talk with you.” Without time to react, they grabbed the man and started to try and lead him away.

“What?” Dream sounded like he was slightly panicking. Or maybe more than slightly.

“Dream, don’t resist, it will just make things worse,” Etho said.

They sat and watched as they dragged him away. There was nothing they could do right now. 

“What are they going to do to him?” Fundy sounded worried.

To Doc’s surprise, Techno was the one to speak up. “They are going to offer a proposition.”

\-----

Dream didn’t like this. Not one bit. 

A man in a suit that was somewhat reminiscent of a certain businessman greeted him outside a door. “Nice to meet you Dream. I believe your ‘friends’ might have already told you about me, but allow me to introduce myself. I am known as The Collector and I run this place.”

He fidgeted a little with the Vex mask. “Uh yeah, I might have heard of you.”

“And I have very well heard of you. Your reputation precedes you,” the Collector gave Dream a smile. “I trust that the guards have treated you well enough.”

“I guess you could say that.” Dream thought back to the bruising on Etho’s arms. 

The Collector gave a nod to a goon who opened the door for both of them. “After you.”

Dream hesitated but politely walked in first, keeping his eye on the other man. The business man followed soon after and the goon shut the door. He placed a hand on one of Dream’s shoulders and turned him towards one of the walls. Shock coursed through him.

One of the walls was made entirely of glass that led into another room. “Those Hermits might have mentioned him to you, but allow me to introduce you to Xisumavoid. The esteemed admin of the Hermitcraft Server.”

The very sight of the man rooted Dream in place. His arms and legs were chained to a metal chair and his head, which was hanging there limply, was only held up by a thick metal collar that was secured to a slot in the chair. He was entirely drenched from head to toe, and a suspicious dark stain spread across his chest. His bare hands and feet had a purple tint to them, and the only signs of life was his faint shivering and a slight rise and fall of his chest. 

“I guess this isn’t quite an introduction seeing how he can’t see us in here with the whole one way mirror thing, and well, he’s probably not in the state to talk right now.”

The Collector looked over at Dream. “Oh don’t worry, I’ll be able to get more information from him tomorrow, I’m not going to kill off such a prime resource of information, especially when the price for him is so high.”

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Oh you know, intimidation and a show of power. Thought you might want to see what we’ve done to the last admin who resisted us.”

Dream’s mouth went dry.

“But I hope we never have to get to this place. I have a proposition for you after all.”

“A proposition?” He kept his voice calm, thankful that the mask covered his face. 

The suited man smiled. “Yes, a proposition. See I have an auction coming up in a few days and I have been in need of some entertainment. I’ve already talked to Techno and he’s agreed to duel you.”

“Techno agreed with you?” A small slip of surprise slid into his voice.

“That he did. A little threatening can go a long way.”

“No, he wouldn’t”

“Oh he did and you will too.” The Collector took a step closer to him.

Dream stiffened. “And what will I get if I accept this duel?” 

“You see that’s where things get interesting. With Techno it was easy. If he won, Tubbo would be free to go and be spared a horrible life and death. You’d think that since I do have your fiance in my grasp I could make a similar deal with you, but I found this small piece of information. You don’t even care about him.”

Dream could feel his heart racing. “What do you mean? Of course I care about him. Why else would I agree to marry him?”

A glint of teeth. “Spite.” Dream felt the blood drain from his face. “You wouldn’t have even agreed to go on a date with him if one of your little friends hadn’t gone off and married some fella who’s name is Ninja, I believe?”

Dream glared at the man. “You don’t know anything.” 

“Oh I don’t know anything? Well neither does Fundy. He still thinks that that wedding will go perfectly, he even hired Jerracraft to build a whole Treasure Planet themed floating island. And what are you planning? To leave him right on the altar, even if some colorblind idiot doesn’t have feelings for you. And you think I’m the bad one here?”

He was at a loss for words.

“Now. Do you agree to fight in that duel with Techno?”

Dream looked away and noticed X looking right at him. His eyes seemed to glow a faint purple. He shook his head. “H╎ᓭ ∴𝙹∷↸ᓭ ⍑𝙹ꖎ↸ ᒷᒲ!¡ℸ ̣ || !¡∷𝙹ᒲ╎ᓭᒷᓭ,” a voice echoed in Dream’s head. The glowing faded away and Dream stared into Xisuma’s eyes that now were a bright green color. 

“If you don’t hurt Fundy, Bad, or Tubbo and free them after the duel.”

The Collector clicked his tongue. “Can’t do that. You need motivation to not just fight but to also win. I’ll free Fundy and Bad if you defeat Techno.”

“What about Tubbo?”

“That’s Techno’s motivation. Can’t have him throwing so that Fundy and Bad are also freed. No, you two will have to fight to see who’s life is more valuable. Two lives vs one child’s.”

“Okay, I accept your proposal. I will fight Technoblade in that duel if you promise to release Fundy and Bad, and you keep Fundy from finding out about that information.”

“Wonderful!” The other man snapped his fingers to get the attention of one of his guards. “Tell Chand that he can continue his work.” They bowed and walked out of the room. 

“What about me?” Dream asked.

“Oh I’m not done with you quite yet, not when my good friend Chand has a little bit of a display to show you.”

The door in the other room opened and a man walked in. Xisuma scowled at him but Dream noticed his breathing quicken. Chand pulled out a long stick and a few sparks flew off of the end of it. Oh Notch, he has a cattle prod. 

“Wait no, what are you doing?”

“Mr. Void has been hiding something from me and he’s been less than cooperative with me.”

The stick was shoved into his side and X’s face contorted in pain. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

“Shame that room is sound-proof, but I do have the next best thing.” The Collector walked up to a control panel of sorts and pushed a button. 

A voice came from a speaker. “Are we going to make things difficult again? That’s really your loss. I’m the one who can do this all day, but you,” Chand grabbed a handful of Xisuma’s hair and forced his head back so he could look him in the eyes. “You are bound to break in no time.”

X spat in the man’s face and Dream couldn’t suppress a small smile. That soon changed when the cattle prod was shoved into Xisuma’s gut. “You worthless bitch. If you were anyone else you’d be dead.” He held it there while X screamed out, his voice hoarse. 

“No, stop him!” Dream’s anxiety rose. 

The Collector didn’t even look at Dream. “He knows how much a man can take.” The rod was retracted. 

“With most of the Mutts I have to break, I’m not allowed to do anything that will leave a mark. But since you already have so many beautiful scars, what will one more do?”

Chand grabbed X’s wrist and twisted his arm to expose his inner forearm. “I’ll stop when you give us the information we need or when you can’t answer me anymore.”

Xisuma tried to pull his arm away. “I’ve dealt with far worse than anything you could ever do. I’ve been to Hell and back and you won’t survive it when you get sent there.”

“Wrong answer.” The tip of the cattle prod was pressed into a bare patch of skin right on the forearm. Xisuma clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, shaking in pain.

Dream grabbed onto the Collector’s shoulder and instantly guards rushed around them. “You need to stop this.” 

“I don’t need to stop anything!” Guards shoved Dream away, holding his arms in place. 

The faint sound of sizzling flesh embedded into his brain. “Do you want him to do permanent damage?!”

He scowled at Dream but pushed a button on his com. “Stop.” 

In the other room Chand stepped away. “You got lucky.”

Dream thought he saw a tear run down X’s face. 

“Well Dream, since you are so insistent that I  _ need _ to stop this, I guess I’ll just have to change my plans and deal with one of your friends instead.”

“Wait that’s not what I meant!”

“Guards, get these two out of my sight!”

\-----

To put things simply, Bad was struggling. For some bizarre reason that he could not figure out, Demons were one of the “inmates”, for lack of a better word, that were assigned to the medbay. 

“Hey Bad, can you get me some more gauze?”

He couldn’t describe how grateful that Tango was here to help him. He hurried over to the medical cabinet. “Okay okay okay, I can do this.” He scrambled through the things, not really messing up the already disaster of organization, until he found it. “Got it!”

He passed it to Tango who nodded and kept on addressing someone’s wounds. Things were actually pretty slow, only one person had been in the medbay at a time and Tango did most of the work. 

“There you go, the infection seems to have gone away, but if it starts getting worse we can try and get some better medication.” A nod and a quick thank you before the Hybrid hurried off with the guard who had escorted them. They didn’t want to fall behind on their work. 

“You’d think that there would be more people in here given the conditions here,” Bad said.

Tango glanced over from his cleaning. “That’s what I thought, but they don’t allow people to come up here unless they have an injury that could prove fatal or that could restrict their ‘productivity’.” 

“That explains why it’s so quiet in here.”

Fate felt the need to prove him wrong at that moment. The door slammed open and two guards dragged in an unconscious figure. A third followed behind and set something on the bedside table. The man was soaked, but he didn’t appear to be dripping at all. They dropped him on the bed and left without a word.

“Oh my days.” 

Bad looked at Tango with a bit of confusion. That didn’t sound like something he would say. His eyes were wide open and he stood frozen like a deer in headlights. “Do you know him?”

Tango snapped out of it and rushed to the man’s side. “This is Xisuma.” He reached up to his neck, checking for a pulse. “Okay.” He stopped and looked around, grabbing onto the object that Bad now recognised as a helmet and shoved it onto X’s head. “Stupid guards, when I get out of here, we’re going to have a nice long chat. Possibly over a lava lake, that will depend on my mood.”

Bad moved to the other side of the bed to be ready to help. Up close he noticed a new smell that he couldn’t quite place, but he did note a shift in Xisuma’s breathing. A small whimper came from the man, just quiet enough Tango didn’t hear it. 

“Shh, you’re safe here.” Bad tried his best to calm down the barely conscious man.

“Oh gosh that’s blood.” Tango stared down at a dark stain in the middle of X’s shirt. “We’ll need to get his shirt off to access the damage.”

One of X’s hands reached out and grabbed onto Tango’s arm who let out a little shriek. “Howisheconscious?”

X responded with a wet cough.

Bad looked at the soaked shirt. “I think we’ll just have to cut his shirt off. There’s no way we’d be able to take it off without hurting him.”

“Xisuma did you hear that? I’m just going to cut your shirt off. I’ll find you a new one once you aren’t bleeding out,” Tango said, trying not to sound freaked out. X let go of Tango’s arm. 

The two eventually cut off the undershirt and stared at the mess. His whole chest and torso was covered with scars and wounds. There were cuts, burn marks, but most distinctively, a half stitched up stab wound. The stitches looked rushed.

Tango grabbed a towel to stop the bleeding. “Bad, can you get a clean rag, some alcohol, and the kit?”

Bad grabbed the items and set them on the bed. He then watched as Tango slowly stitched up the wound. X was surprisingly a lot quieter than he would have thought.

When the ordeal was done, Bad helped clean and dress some of the other various wounds.

“Thank you.” X’s voice was hoarse but calm.

“X, next time could you please show up before things get this bad? How did you even get those stitches anyway? You haven’t been in here before.”

“I did it.”

Oh my muffin. “You stitched up your own wound? They just watched you bleed out as you patched yourself up?” Bad couldn’t believe it.

“That’s a whole new level of messed up, and that’s saying something. They ripped off Doc’s arm for goodness sake!”

Xisuma tried to sit up. “They did what? Is he okay? Can he fix it?” X sounded like he was freaking out. 

“X, lay down. I will not hesitate to sedate you to keep you from tearing your stitches. Doc is fine, he’s working on fixing it.”

“Are you sure?”

“X, you know how Doc is. He’ll be fine.”

Xisuma didn’t look convinced.

Bad felt a little awkward standing there. “I’m going to go grab a shirt.”

“Thank you-”

“Bad,” he smiled and walked over to the cabinet. 

I sure hope Skeppy is okay. A small wave of loneliness hit him. They’ve known each other for as long as he could remember and they’d always check in on the other at least once a day. Even when Bad went off to do a manhunt, or when Skeppy had to go do something, they kept in contact. 

He ruffled through the closet. It was mostly just towels and rags, but there were a few shirts thrown in with them. By the smell of them, they weren’t new either. “Um, this was all I could find.”

X tried on the shirt which was slightly too small. “Sorry, this was the biggest one that didn’t have holes in it.”

“I suppose beggars can’t be choosers.”

A question flashed in his mind. “X, did you by chance see Dream? He’s an Enderman Hybrid and he was wearing one of Cub’s Vex masks.”

Some hesitation. “Yeah. He made a deal that he’s going to regret.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have reworked how the Compound runs like seven or eight times, so if there ends up being some rough patches and holes in its logic I am sorry. Also, writing a scene with a lot of people in it is really hard, so there will be a lot more smaller interactions with two or three people rather than the large groups. A few different people have asked for Bad angst, but it didn't really fit in the scene, so I'll be doing some more in the future. Also, I am so excited to write Ranboo you have no idea. Oh, and I wanted to say that EX will show up eventually, there just needs to be a bit more progression with the plot. 
> 
> I just wanted to say wow. You guys are amazing and I love and appreciate every one of you. Even if you just read through it and decided that it was a load of garbage and a waste of time. Thank you for all the lovely comments. I may not respond to all of them, but I do read each and every one. Multiple times in fact. I may or may not have started crying in front of one of my friends when I read a new one. I enjoy seeing you guys theorize, catch little references, and wish for death and suffering. You are the best.


	6. Gut Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Slight panic attack and dissociation.

“Let’s set up camp for the night.” 

Wels glanced at the setting sun in the distance, its rays peeking through the thick forest. It would be dangerous to continue in the dark. Horses were much too likely to misstep and injure themselves and that was a risk they couldn’t afford to take. 

The Hermits started to dismount along with Phil, but the SMPers didn’t look too happy. 

“But we’re getting so much closer!” Tommy protested.

“Tommy, if it’s true we are close, then we’ll need to be well rested. Getting caught won’t help them at all.” Phil folded his arms.

“We don’t know what they are doing with them, we have to find them as soon as possible!” Skeppy’s voice slightly cracked. 

Phil sighed. “We’ll just have to hope they can hang on for one more day.”

Skeppy, Tommy and Sapnap didn’t look happy.

The Hermits glanced at one another. “Look, we’ve been searching for quite some time now. I know how badly you just want to keep going and never stop until you find them and bring them home, but that won’t work out. You’ll just find yourself tired and out of energy and you’ll end up losing more time in the long run.” False played with the strap on her glove. 

Wels opened his mouth but Grian spoke before he said anything. “Trust me, working yourself to the bone won’t help them. Hey, I wasn’t supposed to come with the search party. They were gone a day before it was too much and I went and flew after them.” Grian looked at him. “Wels here knows how to optimise a horse’s energy and the time with daylight. I had my work cut out for me to catch up.” Grian switched his gaze to Philza. “And I don’t think most of you know how hard it is to fly hours on end, much less at the speed I was going. Luckily I had made it to their campsite before I passed out. I was out for pretty much a full day. Fortunately, they had brought an extra horse to carry supplies. My mistake could have cost us a lot of time.”

Everyone fell silent. Phil was the first to break it. “Are your wings doing okay man?”

Grian spread out his black, almost purpleish, wings. “They’re okay. I’ve barely used them since.”

The four dismounted. “So, how are we going to set up camp?” Wilbur asked.

“I was thinking that you and Sapnap could go with False and Iskall to look for a place to settle down. They’ll show you what to look for.” False and Iskall nodded at Wels.

“Hey, then what are we supposed to do?” Skeppy said as the four scouts headed off into the forest. 

“Well, you could either come with me and Grian to find a good water source or you could stay with Wels and the horses.” Impulse was already standing off to the side with Grian.

“Dibs on water duty,” Tommy and Skeppy said in sync.

Impulse laughed and the two started arguing on who said it first. “You guys can both come, don’t worry.”

They smiled in triumph and headed off with Grian and Impulse.

Philza walked over to Wels. “You’re pretty good at leading them.”

He looked over to Phil in surprise. “Oh, I’m not the leader here, we all work together to make the decisions. We’ve just had time to work out a good system.”

“And when you went forward to talk with us?”

Wels laughed. “That’s just because I’m the only one who’s been able to deal with rulers and the like. Well, at least without almost punching said ruler in the face.”

“Really?” Phil chuckled.

“Oh you should have seen False when one particular king said that she should find a husband and settle down. Man was a jerk, but we couldn’t just let her kill him. Iskall almost threw hands when he referred to Grian as our pet. He and Iskall looked ready to throw him out the window. And Impulse was surprisingly the closest to actually punching him, but guards interfered. They all got kicked out and nearly sent to the dungeon, but good thing I’m used to dealing with rude rulers. You’ve just got to inflate their ego a bit.”

“Man, I wish I could have been there.”

“I hope I never have to see that man again.” Wels bit the inside of his cheek at the memory. “I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with those kinds of people ever again, but life sure likes to throw people under the bus.” He laughed bitterly. 

Before Phil could ask him what he meant by that, Tommy’s voice rang out. “We’re back bitches!”

Wilbur’s group was with them. “We found a nice clearing and it’s got a stream nearby.”

“Good job! Let’s get the horses over there.” Wels walked away before Phil could question him.

With some difficulty- Skeppy got his lead tangled up in a thorn bush- they eventually made it to the clearing. It was probably the best site they have found so far. The trees were tall enough to provide a bit of shelter, but mainly block out the wind. That one night on the plains had been a nightmare. And, the ground didn’t appear to be too rocky. He still has a bruise on his side from one specifically bad night. Thunderstorms always seemed to happen when he had nightmare filled nights.

“This will be perfect. Impulse, do you want to show Tommy, Wilbur, and Skeppy how to set up the tents? Grian can help out. And False, can you take Sapnap and Iskall and go look for firewood?” They nodded and went off to work.

Wels looked at Phil. “I don’t know how much you know about horses, but can you help me check them for any injuries?”

“Sure.”

They worked in silence, slowly moving from one horse to another. Wels was on his third horse when Phil spoke up, “Hey Wels, are you okay there mate?”

He was slightly surprised, and stammered a little. “I’m fine, just worried you know. What makes you ask?”

Phil hummed. “You seem a bit more stressed out then the rest of them. I just wanted to check in. Is there anything you want to tell me?”

Wels felt caught off guard. There’s no way Philza could know, right? None of the Hermits had ever suspected a thing since he joined. “What do you mean?” Even Wels didn’t feel convinced by his own words.

“Wels.” Philza looked him in the eyes. “I know there is something you aren’t telling me. And I get the feeling none of the Hermits know either.”

\-----

Ant was calling Velvet. Ponk, Callahan, Alyssa, and H-bomb were out collecting some wood. Four people might have been overkill, but they weren’t going to take any chances. They’ve been having regular check-ins, and they haven’t missed any. Karl and Quackity were “helping” Niki bake some bread, and Jack was there to make sure they didn’t set the place on fire when Niki had turned her back. Punz, Purpled, and George were off sparring in another room. 

They were all fine. They are all fine. He’s fine. Sam had been going through all of their supplies and noting down anything they might need. They needed to be safe, they had to be. 

Weapons were good, but they might need some more arrows. There wasn’t a lot of wood, but Ponk, Callahan, Alyssa, and H-bomb were gathering some more. A glance at the communicator. Two minutes before the next check-in. They should be safe. One of them would have been able to send an sos if they weren’t. Food was a bit concerning. No one expected to be bunkering his bunker for the foreseeable future, or at least until they all came back. 

They had taken Dream and Techno when Sam had been fixing a bug in one of his redstone lines. Fundy and Eret were taken when Sam was looking through his chests for some more quartz. Bad and Tubbo were gone and Sam had been none the wiser. 

What if things had been different? If he had accepted Eret’s invitation to help with the cake? If he had been out collecting wood when they had passed through? If it hadn’t been Bad and Tubbo? If he could have known? He should have been able to stop them. 

A hiss built up inside him. Why wasn’t it him? Tubbo, Bad, Fundy, and Eret had never done anything to deserve this. Neither did Techno or Dream. 

His claws scraped his arms, the only thing stopping them from going deeper were his scales. His heart was pounding. He could hear it in his head. He could feel it. 

He was shaking. The hiss had gotten louder. 

“Sam?” A voice called in from the doorway, but it sounded so far away, so fake.

Soft paws pulled his claws away from his arms and held them out in front of him, somewhere they couldn’t hurt him.

A low rumbling. A purr? “It’s okay, you are safe.”

Sam looked up into blue eyes. How long had he been staring at the floor? “Ant?”

“I’m here, it’s okay.”

His hissing had died down. “Sorry.”

“Sam, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

He looked away, focusing on a bit of redstone that had been left out. “It should’ve been me.”

He could feel Ant’s gaze. “Sam, no one deserves that, including you. You’ve done so many great things, and I’m glad you’re here.”

“Really?”

“Sam. You’ve done so good here. You’ve helped keep us together and make sure that we are all safe and cared for. But you need to take care of yourself too. You aren’t alone. We are all here with you.”

Sam looked back up at Ant. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“Wait, what about your call with Velvet?”

Ant laughed. “Don’t worry, I had finished the call when I came in here to check on you. He’s safe and he’ll be checking in regularly. He’s actually on his way here. He’s worried about me.”

A small smile. “I figured he might. We’ve got plenty of room.”

Ant sat down next to him.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?”

“I know they will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to let you all know that I would die for you. I love seeing what you think and any guesses on what will happen in the future. Also, bonus points for anyone who catches any references, big or small, or notices the little questions that are left unanswered. I'm the kind of person to go out of my way to tie up any loose strings but very slowly and subtly. 
> 
> Your comments and support are what keep me motivated, and I really want to update this more frequently. Sorry for the shorter chapter.
> 
> Also side note, according to Xisuma in episode 500 (I can't believe how long it's been) everyone has an evil doppelganger... just thought I might mention that fact. No reason...


	7. Tension Rises

It had grown dark, and the search party gathered around the campfire. It had become a part of the traveling Hermits’ normal day, and there was no reason why it should stop. In the beginning when it seemed like they were getting nowhere and that the mission might turn out as a bit of a lost cause, Impulse suggested that they spent some time to step back and analyze where they were and decide the best plan for the next day. Some of the nights were spent mainly in silence before they turned in for the night with guard shifts set. 

False glanced around at all the faces illuminated by the fire. Phil sat with Tommy and Wilbur with his wings slightly wrapped around the two. Sapnap and Skeppy were close by, but they looked like they wanted some space. 

The Hermits sat on the other side of the pit. Grian was half asleep, resting his head against Iskall’s shoulder while Iskall told him stories of the fun they’ve had with Ren. Impulse was a few inches away from the two, his gaze fixed on the fire. He was probably thinking about Tango again. False knew better than to interrupt him; he had a small smile on his face. 

False looked for Wels and spotted him further away from the fire. His face was blank and unreadable, something that he was quite good at doing when he was upset, uncomfortable, or nervous. 

She bit the inside of her cheek. It was difficult to know the best plan of action with him. Wels liked to keep to himself, but he also thrived off of other people’s company. She weighed her options and made a decision.

False stood up and sat a little ways away from him. She hoped that her message was clear: they could talk if he wanted or they could sit in silence. She tried to keep her gaze on the group and not on the knight. It was hard to not see the tension in his shoulders and the way he gripped the helmet in his hands. His eyes were trained on it, and he looked slightly pale. 

She decided she might as well start on her nightly routine. She unsheathed her sword and carefully inspected it. There was a small nick in it, most likely from that skeleton that had snuck up on them earlier. It was strange seeing one in the broad daylight, even in the semi-dense forest. It had acted strangely as well. It’s movements seemed erratic and were reminiscent of someone who was desperate. She shook the thought aside. Maybe she was looking too far into it. False started to sharpen the sword, but she wouldn’t have to do much. The nick wasn’t too deep.

Wels stood up next to her and put his helmet on, his wavy hair slightly poking out the back of it. “I’m going to go scout the area a bit. I’ll be gone a while.”

False nodded. He needed to go let some steam off. “I’ll make sure the night shifts are set.” He smiled and walked off into the woods. The faint clinking of his armour faded off into the sounds of the night. 

Phil looked up and watched the knight leave and False narrowed her eyes. Had he said something to Wels earlier? Was that why Wels was acting strange? She had noticed a shift in the knight’s mood after he had looked over the horses with Phil, and while the horses couldn’t do anything to make the knight so nervous and stressed, the winged man sure could.

She stood up and sheathed her sword. False needed to have a word with him.

\-----

“Phil, a word please.”

Iskall looked up from the fire. False was standing over Phil, Wilbur, and Tommy, and she didn’t look happy. False, like many of the Hermits, doesn’t like to show emotions plainly for others to see, especially around strangers. She prefers to keep a calm and calculating look and aura. Most people would look at her now and think nothing of it. But Iskall wasn’t most people. 

False was in a fighting stance. Her feet were planted, and despite the fact that her hands were at her sides unclenched, she was ready to fight. They had no idea what Phil did to make False mad, but whatever it was, it seemed personal. 

Philza stood up carefully to not disturb Tommy who was pretty much asleep at this point. Turns out the kid’s energy wasn’t as limitless as it seemed to be. Iskall looked down at Grian. Guess that made two red wearing gremlins fast asleep. Wilbur shifted over to take Phil’s place holding Tommy. 

Phil dusted the dirt off of him and followed False off into the woods. 

Wilbur looked over to Iskall. “What was that about?”

“No idea.” 

Something felt off. “Wait, where’s Wels?” There was no sign of the builder. 

Wilbur shrugged. “I think he went to go sit alone somewhere.”

They nodded to themself. “He’s probably just blowing off some steam.” 

“Does he do that a lot?” Sapnap leaned forward.

Impulse looked at Iskall. “Every once and awhile, why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, I barely know him but he doesn’t strike me as someone to go into the forest alone to ‘blow off steam’. Seems a little strange to me.”

“What are you suggesting?” Iskall didn’t like where Sapnap was going with this. 

Sapnap sat up and held up his hands defensively. “I know it’s not my place to ask, but I feel like he’s been hiding something. Think Phil confronted him about it and that’s why False is so upset with him.”

Iskall set their jaw. That would explain things, but something didn’t add up. “What makes you think Wels is hiding something?”

“Why don’t you think he’s hiding something? He just screams ‘lies and secrets’. How does he know so much anyway? What’s up with the knight getup? Heck, he straight up said that he has an evil twin What’s his deal?!”

Skeppy was glancing between Sapnap and Iskall nervously. “Hey, how about we calm down a bit. There’s no reason to start a fight here.”

Sapnap stood up and glared at Skeppy. “No reason? Six of our friends disappear out of nowhere and these guys show up with some story and we don’t question them at all? I know Wels is hiding something and I know Phil thinks the same thing. I’m not going to take any chances with Dream on the line. How can you be so calm when Bad’s missing?”

Impulse was up on his feet and between Sapnap and Skeppy before Iskall could do anything. “Hold on Sapnap. I know you’re upset that Dream is missing, but that’s no reason to snap at Skeppy like that.”

Grian rubbed his eyes tiredly, now awake from the yelling. He sat up blearily. 

“Look, I know you all seem like the  _ nicest and most trustworthy group, _ but I don’t trust you guys. There’s one question that no one else thought to ask was how you got into the SMP in the first place. I know Dream has safety measures in place and there’s no way you five got through without help. You say your admin went missing so how could you break in without one?”

Four pairs of eyes went to Iskall. Sapnap, Wilbur, Skeppy, and even Tommy, who had woken up by now, looked expectantly for their response. Impulse rightfully looked at Grian.

The small builder cleared his throat and the spotlight shifted to Grian. “We do have an admin with us.”

“And who is that?”

Grian gave his gremlin looking smile. “You’re looking right at him.”

Iskall had never seen such shock fall on the SMPers before. Wilbur sputtered. “You’re an admin?” His voice showed no sign of anger, just pure shock. Sapnap stood speechless. 

Iskall couldn’t hold back his iconic laugh. 

“You have two admins?!” Sapnap had finally found some words.

“We have a few on the server, but X is the Hermitcraft admin.” Iskall’s mind went to Kingdomcraft, but he thought it would be best not to bring that up. “But yeah, we got into your server through Grian.”

Grian cut in. “Iskall, you helped.” 

“Okay, yeah. I did help a bit with the Codebreaking.”

Wilbur looked impressed while Tommy and Skeppy just looked confused. 

“That still doesn’t explain why Wels is acting so strangely. I don’t trust him at all.” Sapnap just wouldn’t drop that. His voice echoed faintly in the trees. “How do you know he’s not helping his “Evil Twin” and how do you know he even has one?”

Iskall paused, and everyone went silent for a second. All things considered, none of them had actually seen Hels before, but with Evil X they didn’t really question it. “Because I know Wels and he wouldn’t do something like that.” Iskall had known Wels for long enough to trust him with their life.

No one in the group noticed an onlooker. If only Wels had heard Iskall’s response, but all he had seen was the group’s hesitation. 

\-----

“I think he’s finally passed out.”

Tango and Bad looked down at the sleeping admin. Bad gave a half concerned smile. “Is he always like this?”

“If what you mean by this is could care less for his own wellbeing, desperately needs sleep, and the dumbest smart person alive, well, you wouldn’t be that wrong.” Tango chuckled a little bit. “There was this one time on the server back when we were having some world corruption issues in season six where X refused to sleep until we assembled a team of Doc, False, and Iskall to physically drag him away from his work, carefully of course, and force him into bed. Scar even brought Jellie, Scar’s cat, and got her to lay down on Xisuma to keep him down. Even the most determined X stood no chance against Jellie’s kitten eyes and the  _ power of a thousand Scars. _ ” Tango did his best Scar impression which just confused Bad even more.

“Really?”

Tango nodded. “Seriously. He didn’t want to stop but he knows the rule. You can’t move a cat from where they are sitting. If they have chosen your lap then too bad, you will remain there until the cat moves.”

“One of our servermates, Antfrost, is a Cat Hybrid and I can tell you he’s fallen asleep in some pretty strange places but no one ever has the heart to wake him up.” Bad chuckled. 

“What do you think was the weirdest place you’ve seen him?”

Bad hummed a bit, thinking. “Well, one time I found him on mine and Skeppy’s roof, curled up on the lap of this statue I made Skeppy as a present. When he woke up he had no idea how he got up there. But that’s just the strangest place I’ve seen. Apparently his boyfriend Velvet found him on one of the shelves in their blanket closet once. They almost broke the shelf getting him unstuck.”

Tango smiled at Bad’s excitement as the demon burst into a story about a time where Skeppy got stuck in an escape room some friends had built for him when he couldn’t find the key in a semi-hidden chest. 

He listened while he checked over Xisuma’s injuries, making sure they dressed all of them. One new one was a nasty looking burn on his forearm. Tango winced. That one must have hurt. He’d never burned himself that badly seeing how he doesn’t take damage from fire. The worst was when he’d touched lava out of curiosity. Impulse and Zed were worried, but when they saw he wasn’t burned badly they had laughed and told him to be more careful. The next time they went to the Nether, Tango was sure to bring a fire resistance potion.

“Do you think they are worried?”

Bad’s question made Tango’s thoughts pause for a moment. “I’m sure they are, but they’re probably out there searching for us as we speak. I’d be going to the ends of the world if roles were reversed, and I know they’d do the same for all of us.”

The other man looked down sadly and Tango nudged him. “And I’ve known you for what? A day? And I already would miss you. They’ll find us soon enough. Besides, I know Mr. Sleep Deprived here has a back up plan, he always does.”

Bad smiled softly. “You’re right.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, uh hello there. A few things I wanted to say before I cry a bit because I may have done a bad thing in a future chapter. Thank y'all for the comments. I can't tell you how excited I get every time I see there's a new comment. *Ranboo voice* Because brain goes brr when see number go up and it releases the happy chemical. Ahem, anyway. Shoutout to Fintastica in the comments for the joke about Tango calling X the dumbest smart person alive. It made me wheeze so hard I just had to put it in. ALSO, I just wanted to say, yes Kingdomcraft did exist in this universe, but for the sake of backstories and stuff it happened after the Kingdomcraft guys joined Hermitcraft and it kind of existed as its own server. 
> 
> I love Xisuma, Doc, Wels, Techno, Ranboo, and Philza so much, so there will probably be quite a bit with them and their backstories are a bit more flushed out, but I'm trying to include people as much as I can. Another thing I should mention is that time might work a bit differently in different servers so what might be one day for one could be more or less for another. And for the sake of plot and convenience Ranboo's memory issues will just be more like amnesia and just a bit of difficulty remembering details.


	8. Unanswered Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! There's a bit of gore in the Xisuma section, but I did put a warning before it just in case.

The clinking of pickaxes filled the air. All sorts of hostile mob Hybrids worked, chipping away at the stone, under the watch of dozens of guards. 

One aggressively shoved Etho. “Keep working you monster. You know the rules. Fail to meet the quota and it’s the box for you.”

Etho turned away scowling. They had taken Doc and Ranboo away for more “experimentation” hours ago and there was still no sign of Dream. Cub was working a few feet away and looked at him, concerned.

He shrugged at the Vex Hybrid. Cub knew how it was. They needed to keep their heads down for the meantime. Too much attention didn’t help anyone. 

Etho slowly pocketed some of the redstone and iron he had gathered. Doc could probably use a bit more resources, even if they were raw resources. He could feel the gazes of the guards so he always knew when he could get away with it and when he couldn’t. The constant stares were grating. He held back a growl as it built deep in his chest. No. Now wasn’t the time to fight.

He heard one of the doors open and gave it a quick glance. In walked two guards and a familiar figure wearing a Vex mask. Etho tilted his pickaxe to catch the light and reflect it towards Dream, hoping to catch his attention. It seemed to have worked as the man held the iron pickaxe shoved aggressively into his arms and walked towards him. 

“I see the boss has allowed you to leave his presence. You good?” Etho said as Dream came closer. 

The mask hid his expression, but his body language showed anxiety. “Y-yeah. He just wanted to have a chat with me.”

“Was there any sign of Xisuma?”

Dream’s swing of his pickaxe faltered a little bit. “No.”

A lie, Etho figured. He just hummed in response.

Cub had since turned his back to the two Enderman Hybrids. 

Dream stammered a little bit. “Well, the uh, the Collector did mention him though.”

“Oh?” Etho kept his response short. People tended to hate the silence when they lied and usually ended up telling the truth eventually.

“Yeah, said something about X keeping something from him.”

That caught Etho’s attention. That wasn’t a lie, unless Dream had become better at lying in the last few seconds. “Did he mention what?” This was news to him; Xisuma hadn’t mentioned anything about that before. 

Dream had found a rhythm breaking the stone. “No, but he did talk about him being an admin, so it might have something to do with that?”

His mind buzzed with questions, but he held himself back. Dream wouldn’t be the best source of information right now. “Is Xisuma okay?”

The other’s iron pickaxe embedded itself in the stone and he cursed under his breath as he tried to pull it free. “I don’t know.”

Etho hummed again. He wasn’t sure if he should call the other’s bluff or not. His pickaxe kept swinging at the stone. Cub still hadn’t said a word. 

Hopefully they wouldn’t have to endure this much longer.

\-----

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?”

False took a slight step closer, her hand on the hilt of her sword. “What did you say to Wels?”

Phil should have known that was what this was about. “I confronted him about the fact that he was hiding something.” There would be no point lying.

“What made you think that he was hiding something that you had the right to confront him about?” False’s voice was dripping with venom.

“I can’t take any risks with Techno and Tubbo on the line, not to mention all the others that have gone missing.” Phil paused, feeling conflicted on what he should say. “I know I shouldn’t have confronted Wels like that and if I had any clue on what he was trying to hide I wouldn’t have asked him a thing.”

False looked confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The image of Wels’ fear flashed into his mind. “I’m saying I had no right to pressure him and it’s definitely not my place to tell you.”

“He…” False bit her lip. “So he was hiding something. Not just from you but from us?”

Phil held back the want to tell her. “I can’t tell you anything. You should ask Wels if you really feel the need.”

The warrior stared at him. A faint breeze rustled his feathers. 

“Is that all you wanted to talk to me about?”

False nodded. “I still need to figure out shifts for tonight.”

“Do you want me to help?” Phil felt bad for stressing Wels out.

“If you want. I was thinking that I would take the first shift just in case Wels comes back late. And I think Grian needs a night off. He barely got any sleep last night.”

He nodded. “I usually wake up pretty early anyway, so I can take the last shift. I don’t think it would be a good idea to put Tommy or Skeppy on watch alone though, but Wilbur and Sapnap are both fully capable.”

“Then I can go first and then wake up Impulse. He falls asleep pretty quickly. Then Sapnap, Wilbur, Iskall, and finally you. We can each take an hour. I know the other Hermits have run off of less, but will Wilbur and Sapnap be okay?” False raised an eyebrow.

“Oh they’ll be fine. Their sleep schedules are practically nonexistent and they’ve had plenty of practice with little to no sleep.”

False nodded slightly, deep in thought. “Wels might be a bit upset we didn’t include him on the shifts, but he needs the extra sleep. Grian might as well, but he’ll be fine. I don’t want to risk him falling asleep on watch. Especially since we’re getting so much closer to the Compound.”

Sapnap’s voice carried through the forest, too faint to make out the words. The two’s attention shot over to where the camp was. False started running and Phil shot up into the sky. His wings flapped with great speed and within a few seconds he landed in the clearing. 

Sapnap and Skeppy were standing with Impulse in between them and across the fire pit Iskall and Grian stood. Wilbur sat with Tommy still leaning against him, asleep. “What’s going on? I heard shouting.”

They all looked at Sapnap. He rubbed his neck sheepishly. “Sorry to worry you. I got mad and yelled at them about their secrets they’ve been keeping.”

Phil inwardly groaned. He should have never voiced his concerns to Sapnap. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Have you guys settled your disagreement?”

“Did you and False settle yours?”

He sighed. “Yes, we talked through some things. I don’t suppose Wels has come back yet?”

They all shook their heads as False walked into the clearing. She had seen that there was no danger so she walked calmly. 

Wilbur spoke up. “How long do his little excursions usually take?”

“Depends, but he’s always back before the second night shift. Speaking of,” False ignored the groans from the younger members, “We should probably be getting off to bed. I’ll be taking the first shift.”

Phil listened to the warrior explain the schedule. False really knew how to speak to a group and convey important information without the need to re explain everything multiple times. He gazed off into the night sky in the distance, scanning for any sign of any figures, but the sky looked lifeless, void of any night fliers. 

~~I admit I wasn't super proud of this section, it felt rushed and the flow wasn't good. I just really wanted to write the next section.~~

\-----

(WARNING NOTE! This section will be a bit more graphic.  ~~ almost Doom level graphic, cough, cough. ~~ Lots of blood and  ~~ rust, dust, and ~~ guts.)

The walls felt suffocating. Not again. He couldn’t be stuck in here again. His fists pounded against the sarcophagus lid with what strength he could muster. It felt so cold and the air was thick. His vision filled with darkness and then he was falling. 

X hit the ground with a thud. The stench of rotting and burning flesh hit his nose. No, no, no, he couldn’t be here. Not again. Not this again. 

His armor felt heavier. He hadn’t worn this set of armor in years, not since he had escaped this life.

He stood up, his boots squelching in the blood and guts coating the floor. The rage that filled him the last time he was here was replaced with fear. Fear that he would be stuck here again. No matter what he seemed to do just led him back here. No matter how many times he destroyed the portal, Xisuma always ended up back in Hell. 

X looked around at the all too familiar landscape. He’d wandered around this place before, ripping apart demons for long enough to recognize the lay of the land. 

“You thought you could escape your Doom? Eternity is just that, Eternal. No matter how hard you try you can never escape.” That voice made a lump in his throat form. “Going back to the whole silent thing? Suit yourself.”

Xisuma kept his gaze away from the direction of the voice. A familiar form caught his attention in the distance.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Tango’s voice called out, full of betrayal. 

“I thought you trusted us.” Cub sounded hurt.

“How could you?” yelled Etho’s voice.

“After everything we’ve been through you’re still keeping secrets?” Ren’s voice was angry.

“And to think we trusted you.”

Doc’s words hit hard. X’s voice was shaky. “It was for the better. I couldn’t go back to that life. I couldn’t go back to just being a weapon for someone else.”

“So you blocked your admin abilities? That could have killed you!”

X looked down at all of the blood and carnage. To think he used to live covered in the stuff. “I- I know. I couldn’t let someone use that- to use me to hurt people.” His mind was filled with horrors he had witnessed. The pit, the front lines, Hell itself-

Ren’s scream cut through his thoughts. Xisuma looked up to see him being ripped apart by demons. “NO!”

He ran, but his feet slowly sank into the ground, keeping him in place. He watched as hands and claws tore open Ren's chest and pulled out his heart. 

  
Tears fell down his face and he tried to move. It was no use. 

They crushed Cub’s skull against the ground. His blood splattered out and he slowly became indistinguishable from the carnage around him. 

Tango was next. They held him to the ground as his throat was torn out. His screams were cut off and his flesh was ripped and thrown around. 

Etho tried to run but one grabbed him and tore off his head. It hit the ground with a sickening squelch. A foot came down on his body and his ribs broke, caving in with a crack.

Doc had run towards X when a claws were thrust through his chest. He coughed and looked at him as the light faded from his eyes.

X fell to the ground, sobbing. The blood soaked into his gloves and he shook.

“Once again my Slayer has been returned to me. You know what I’ll do if you try and resist again.”

The world seemed to spin around him and the floor fell out from under him. He was spinning, spinning, slowly falling down, down. He free fell through the darkness before a faint light cut through it. He hit the floor, dizzy. He blinked up at the red eyes standing over him. 

“Xisuma?”

All that left his lips was a wet cough. Blood splattered the inside of his helmet. 

“What’s going on? Where are you?”

He opened his mouth, desperate to tell him something. They needed help. He needed help.

X sat up, awake, before he could say anything. Tango and Bad turned to look at him, surprised.

“X!” Tango hurried over to his side. “Are you okay?”

Xisuma felt slightly disoriented by the bright lights of the room. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Does anything hurt?”

“Everything’s just fine.” A cough built up in his chest and he grabbed a nearby tissue. He coughed into it and saw the scarlet speckles. He discretely slid it into his pocket, hiding the coloring from the redstoner. It hadn't been the first time and it wouldn't be the last.

Neither Bad nor Tango looked convinced. 

“I should probably get back to work before I get dragged out of here.” Xisuma tried to stand up and felt the sharp pain in his knee. It was bearable and shouldn’t be a problem if he could avoid walking and standing any chance possible.

The two demon Hybrids started to protest but X just ignored them as he walked towards the door.

“I don’t want to make this worse and I might be able to sneak a healing potion.”

They silenced and watched him walk out the door, towards the potion room. He didn’t look back. The walls spun around him, but he kept moving. He didn't know how much time they had left before the auction, but he didn't even know how much time he had left.

\-----

Evil X stared down at the figure on the ground beneath him. It was his stupid brother. Xisuma was wearing his old set of armor and was completely covered in blood. His eyes went in and out of focus.

“Xisuma?” He better have a good reason to interrupt his dream like this. And after never speaking to him after he banned him from the server? No, this had to be a really good reason.

The only response he got was a wet sounding cough. 

So this was definitely worse than he initially thought. “What’s going on? Where are you?”

And then the fool had the audacity to wake up, leaving him alone with a puddle of blood. 

Evil X huffed, trying to hold back the worry flooding his mind. 

He sat up in bed, annoyed that his beauty sleep got interrupted. He needed answers and he knew the perfect place. It was time he headed back to Hermitcraft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I started writing this I didn't expect to find myself falling down the wormhole that is Doom lore, but I really wanted myself a Doom background for Xisuma. Don't worry if you don't understand it because I'm just using a basic guide and completely reworking it to make it a lot less confusing and possible to connect to Hermitcraft. Connecting Minecraft with Doom is a lot harder than you'd think. Side note, watching X play Doom with his soft British voice while he's going around and tearing demons apart is the best. 
> 
> I know that I write some of the Hermits and SMPers differently than how they are but a part of that is the stresses they are under and the backstories I've been building them. And there is the fact that their surroundings have been created in a way to stress them out. Let me just say that having X act a little insane while going through this is pretty natural for the man who got stuck in Hell murdering demons for a number of years and really only saying "Rip and Tear".
> 
> Like always I wanted to say I appreciate you guys so much. I'm sorry if I don't respond to comments that much, I promise I do read each and every one. I've started checking every chance I get because it brings me the serotonin. It might be a bit of a problem but oh well. If I haven't responded it's either I haven't come up with a response, my anxiety won't let me, or I'm trying not to spoil something.


	9. Pieces Captured

Sapnap woke to the warm smell of coffee. Sitting up, he looked around him. Confusion rose at the surroundings but reality slowly settled in. He wasn’t home. Dream was missing and Karl was left behind. He stayed back at the server for the better. Sapnap knew that he wouldn’t have been able to focus on the mission if he was constantly worrying about Karl. That didn’t stop the loneliness though.

Wilbur and Tommy laid in their sleeping bags that they had positioned to be near each other. Skeppy had insisted on getting the corner and laying in a way that made it difficult to position all the others. Said man was barely in his sleeping bag and had shifted over towards Sapnap’s space. Phil’s spot was empty where it sat close to the entrance, tidy like it hadn’t been touched. He had done his best to keep his wings tucked in to keep from bothering anyone which Sapnap had appreciated. His spot was close to Philza’s and he preferred to sleep without getting wacked in the face with a wing thank you very much. 

His heart ached. It was too much like the nights spent in the middle of a manhunt. Despite the fact that they were supposed to be stopping Dream from killing the Ender Dragon, the hunters had always insisted that Dream spent the night with them. None of them liked the idea of the Enderman Hybrid spending the night alone. They had always done it since the older days when it had just been George and Dream, and never felt the need to stop it.

Sapnap stretched and made his way out of the tent, careful to not disturb anyone who was still sleeping. 

Phil sat next to the fire pit where he had been making some coffee and tea. His gaze was fixed on a spot in the distance and he looked deep in thought. 

“Hey Phil.”

The older man jumped a little and looked over at him. He gave a warm smile. “Morning.”   
  


Sapnap sat down on a rock near him. “Something on your mind?”

Phil looked worried. “Wels hasn’t come back yet.”

Oh shit. “Wait, whAt?” He ignored the voice crack and the other didn’t pay any attention to it.

“From what I’ve heard, none of the Hermits saw him come back last night.”

“You don’t think-” They had been getting closer to the Compound.

“I think he might have run into trouble.”

Sapnap’s mind was running. “Well they would have no reason to capture him, right? I mean, he’s human and there’s no way they knew we were coming. He would have just looked like some lost knight.”

Philza’s wings twitched a bit when he mentioned the whole human thing. “Either that or he’s run off somewhere.”

“But neither of those make complete sense. If they had found him, they surely would have found us and no one saw any signs of anyone. And there’s no way they would have got Wels without a fight. We would have heard something.” 

He nodded. “That’s what’s been throwing me off. The only other thing I could think of was he either got hurt somewhere or left by himself. But I don’t think he would have left. He cares too much about the others to upright abandon them, and the compass is still here.”

Dread slowly seeped in. “What if he thought none of us trusted him?”

“What do you mean? I know I confronted him about keeping something a secret but we resolved that. He was just a bit shaken up afterwards. That wouldn’t have been enough to scare him off.”

“What if he had heard me last night? When I yelled at the Hermits that I didn’t trust him? If you and False had heard me there’s a possibility Wels heard me.”

Phil turned and looked into the forest. “Well, whatever happened we have to find him.”

“Wels still isn’t back?” He hadn’t noticed False standing behind him.

“Yeah.”

False whispered something under her breath, and judging by the tone, it was probably something Bad would ‘Language.’ Her hand brushed over the hilt of her sword. “I’m going to go look for him.”

Phil stood up. “No, I’ll go. I can look from the sky while you guys start packing up.”

“I don’t think you should go alone. I can help you look.” The other two looked at Sapnap. “And besides, I’ve had a lot of practice tracking someone down.”

False folded her arms and then sighed. “As much as I want to go with you two, I know that someone needs to stay back. Go, I’ll wake up the others.”

A voice interrupted them. “What’s going on?” Grian stood looking like he had just woken up.

“Wels is gone.” False cut straight to the chase.

Alarm crossed Grian’s face. “I can help you look.” He emphasized his words with a small flap of his wings.

“We might need the help.”

False pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just go before I change my mind. Be careful out there.”

Grian and Phil both shot up into the air, making Sapnap slightly jealous. Why couldn’t he have gotten wings?

\-----

Doc most definitely hadn’t grown a soft spot for the young Hybrid. No, that would be silly.

He looked up at the black and white hybrid. They still hadn’t identified the other half of Ranboo and they were getting frustrated. The same could be said for Doc. His mix of cybernetics and his Creeper form had confused the scientists. The magic from the Goat Mother hadn’t been helping his case either.

The guards kept their stoic expressions as they led them down the corridor. Doc’s robotic arm twitched. He had finally been able to reconnect it but it was full of bugs and issues. Maybe he could get X, Tango, and Etho to help him look over it tomorrow. There was a possibility that one of the newcomers could help but there was no way in hell Doc was going to let some stranger mess around with his arm.

Ranboo shook slightly and Doc felt the need to comfort him, but there was nothing he could really do. They had reached their destination. 

Guards grabbed their arms and pulled them to separate parts of the lab. They took off his torn lab coat as he struggled to try and get out of their grasp. He stopped when the collar around his neck shocked him. He still hissed in defiance. This had become a regular occurrence.

Cold metal touched his bare back and his arms were forced into clamps. His ankles had a similar fate. The cuffs dug into the flesh on his wrist and ankle.

Doc turned away from the bright light cast down on him. He hated this feeling with every part of him. The feeling of just being some lab rat, some experiment. He’d had enough of that in the past.

He spotted a strange device and struggled as they moved it closer to the robotic part of his face.

“Get away you fuckers.”

Like always, he was ignored and the device was attached to his face, covering up his eye. He tried not to panic as it slowly started to boot up. This was new.

“I will kill you all.” He burst into a string of threats and insults that slowly turned into a mess of curses and hissing. Get it off, get it off, get it off.

His head flared up in pain. He heard a scream, but he couldn’t tell if it was his own. 

He couldn’t think. His head was full of pain and he felt numbers pass through his head. He wanted it to stop, please just stop. 

It felt like his mind was shoved through a paper shredder and then dropped in lemon juice. Or just that he had gotten wacked over the head time after time. His head hurt too much to make a better description. It was getting harder to focus and keep a coherent thought. His jaw clamped down and he heard his teeth grind together. He kept his eyes closed tightly. 

The image of the Goat Mother filled his mind and then it stopped. The device sparked and shut down.

The scientists spoke rapidly in confusion. They had no idea what had happened. Doc wasn’t sure either, but he was just glad it was over.

That was when a splitting pain cut into his head. He heard the panicked shouts of the scientists but he couldn’t tell what they were saying. The pain was too much.

He heard a scraping sound behind his ears, like the sound of metal on metal. He cried out in pain. His vision went dark and then the searing pain stopped. His head still pounded, but he let himself hang limply from the metal clamps. 

Hands went up to the top of his head and poked and prodded around the part of his head that he felt blood slowly drip down from. He felt drained and slowly that world faded around him. 

\-----

“I see him!” Philza’s voice carried through the wind.

Grian turned to the man to see where he was pointing. Sure enough, he spotted a familiar form. He beat his wings to get closer to Phil. “Let me go down and talk to him first while you go find Sapnap.”

A nod and then the other flew off towards where Sapnap had been searching. Grian twisted and flew closer to Wels.

The wind was particularly strong today, but he didn’t let that stop him. He glided through the air, images of the elytra course flashing through his mind. Yeah it was windy, but nothing could beat the powerful gusts along the valley leading into the older ConCorp facility. 

He twisted to dive downwards, trying to keep his wings from catching the air and pushing him off course. When he approached the treetops, he let his wings open up and slow him down like a parachute would. With his descent slowed he made a soft landing. Despite what Mumbo might suggest, he had indeed practiced his landing since that embarrassing day and the walk of shame that had followed to get all of his stuff back. He hadn’t nosedived into the ground since. Well, not at full speed at least.

Wels turned to look at Grian, subtly trying to hide his weariness by leaning against a tree. His helmet was on and his head tilted down enough to hide his eyes. His whole body was shaking slightly. “Hey there Grian.”

“Hello.” Grian hadn’t sounded so out of place in a while. He’d been around the Hermits enough to build up his confidence around the others. His mind was going crazy as he tried to figure out what to say. He definitely hadn’t been this speechless since joining Hermitcraft. “You good?” Oh wow, nice one Grian, you might as well have been asking about the weather.

“I’m fine. Sorry, I got a bit distracted and lost track of time.” Wels looked up. His blue eyes almost appeared to glimmer a golden amber for a second. His face remained stoic but his eyes were filled with emotion. It hurt to see a flash of pain fill them along with weariness. 

He nodded, trying to keep the mood light. “Thoughts do seem to do that.” Oh gosh, he sure hoped that Philza was better at this. While he did know Wels, he didn’t know him that well.

The knight took his helmet off and ran his fingers through his almost golden hair. “I see Phil and Sapnap went searching with you.”

He stood there confused until Wels gestured to behind Grian. He turned to see the mentioned two walking towards them through the trees. “False wanted to but she knew someone had to stay back and the others were all still asleep.”

Wels’ voice went soft. “Sorry.” Then he looked over at Phil and Sapnap with a smile on his face. The smile didn’t reach his eyes though. “Phil, Sapnap.”

“Hey Wels.” Phil’s voice was calm and comforting. 

Sapnap stood awkwardly and rubbed his wrist. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, I just- lost track of time.”

Sapnap shifted and Grian heard the sound of a faint click. He jumped back, reminded of the traps from Demise. His instincts were on point because a honey like substance shot out from the ground. While he had been able to avoid it, the three others hadn’t. They were covered in it.

Sapnap tried to pull his feet out of it while Phil was trying to free his wings. It wasn’t working. 

An alarm rang out around them. 

Wels’ gaze shot to Grian. “Get out of here!”

“But what about you?” Grian protested. 

Phil stopped his movements and looked into the forest. “Grian, go. Someone’s coming this way and you getting caught too won’t help us.”

“But-”

“Grian you have to get to False. Tell her what happened.”

Thundering footsteps were getting louder. He stretched out his wings, looking at the others. He didn’t want to leave them behind. 

“GRIAN GO!” 

He shot up into the sky, looking down at the others. He needed to tell False. They were so close. Far closer than any of them had thought. 

The wind that had been fighting against him now propelled him forward. 

It hadn’t quite sunk in yet, but their rescue mission had just gotten much harder, and that much more important. 

\-----

Scar walked down the road, Aquatown slowly coming into view. Jellie trotted behind him. She had been stuck in Town Hall, even though she could go out whenever she wanted to. Jellie had refused to leave Scar’s side since Cub and the others disappeared. 

He hadn’t wanted to get out of bed, but Jellie insisted. Bdubs agreed with her for once, and the two had teamed up on him. So maybe getting some fresh air would help. That didn’t stop the pang in his heart as he had passed the Cinnabun shop. 

All of the Hermits who were left in the server agreed that it would be best if they all stayed close. They couldn’t bear the thought of another one of them missing. So, they chose to stay around the shopping island. They could go out on excursions, but they had to take two people with them and keep them notified of their coordinates. 

Right now, Hypno, Keralis, and TFC were doing a bit of a mining competition. Zed was showing Mumbo some of his contraptions he had made and Xb tagged along with them. Cleo, Joe, Stress, and Jevin went to check in on all of Joe’s dogs. The Dog Catcher wanted to make sure they were all still there and he definitely needed the help. To be honest, they probably needed more help, but they didn’t want to admit it. They’ll ask for help sooner or later. 

Beef and Bdubs were spending some time alone. Beef was busy working on designing a new addition to his music shop, and the King of Sleep was, well, sleeping. He claimed that Scar was “being too loud” when he had kicked him out. Scar got the feeling that was just an excuse to get him outside. Sketching wasn’t a loud activity after all.

A buzz came from his pocket. Scar pulled out his communicator and rubbed his eyes to make sure he read it correctly. Surely he was just seeing things. 

That didn’t appear to be the case as the other Hermits’ messages flooded in, just as confused as he was. 

Scar scrolled back up to the initial alert. It stood out loud and clear.

**Evil Xisuma joined the game.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, my hand slipped.


	10. Did you say pain? More at 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING! A bit of mention of blood at the beginning.

Ranboo covered his ears with his hands. Doc’s screams were too much. 

Something was going on. The scientists that had been so absorbed in how he reacted to different temperatures moments ago had since left him alone. 

Doc fell quiet. Ranboo looked up and blinked his tears away. The scientists were all huddling around the man so he couldn’t see him. What had happened?

The crowd slowly stepped back, revealing the state Doc was in. He was unconscious, just hanging by the cuffs around his arms and ankles. His head hung limply, with blood dripping down onto the concrete floor. One thing was quite different than what Ranboo remembered Doc to look like. Yeah, he had difficulty remembering details and names and stuff, but he was 100% sure Doc didn’t have horns before. 

Sprouting out of his head and curling back was a pair of white horns. The horns almost looked like the ones on that one animal Doc had pointed out to him a day or two ago. They also reminded him of that man Ranboo had seen the day he was caught. The white had bright red streaks down the sides that was what he could only assume to be blood.

Did the scientist do that to him? No, that couldn’t be. They were just as surprised about it as he was. Ranboo slowly stood up and placed his hands on the glass of his cell, pressing his face close to it to try and see more.

What had they done to Doc? A strange device was connected to his face, but unlike Doc’s cybernetic parts it didn’t appear to be working. A hand reached out and pulled it off. The device sat like a dead fly in their hand and it was set aside. They were more interested in the new additions. 

A small whimper left his lips as they tilted Doc’s head back to look at the horns in different angles. Doc was definitely unconscious, but his face still contorted in pain. 

One of the scientists turned and looked at Ranboo. “Oh look, the little freak’s concerned about its abomination friend. Adorable.”

He retreated away from the glass, wrapping his arms around him. He kept his gaze down. Yeah, the sunglasses helped, but looking people he didn’t trust in the eye was uncomfortable and made his skin crawl. 

“Aww, someone’s scared of a little eye contact. What else can you expect from an Enderman Hybrid?”

A hiss of pain came from across the room and his gaze shot up. One of the scientists was not so gently touching around the horn where it connected to Doc’s head. A growl built up inside him. He didn’t notice one of the scientists pointing him out to another one. 

“Let’s wait until after the other one wakes. We might be able to use this.”

\-----

Eret placed more potions onto the brewing stand. She dropped the Nether wart into each of the bottles and sat back to let them ferment. Dozens of potions sat in neat chests. They were organized in a way that separated them into different types of potions but also into the splash and lingering variety as well. In neat handwriting in each of the chests was the recipe of the coordinating potion. 

Tubbo was sorting through the ingredients after his attempts to brew ended up with a frothing potion that somehow smelled like pumpkin pie. She still had no idea how he managed it. 

The door opened and a familiar face walked in. “Xisuma!” The Voidwalker’s arms were covered in bandages and he stood with most of his weight on his right leg. His black undershirt had since been replaced with an ill-fitting grey one. It was hard to read X’s face since it was mostly obscured by his helmet.

“Hi Eret, Tubbo. How's the brewing going?” X walked over and sat next to one of the brewing stands. 

Tubbo looked a little shy, so she spoke up. “I think I’ve brewed more potions than I ever had before. I didn’t even know how to brew half this stuff.”

“Oh, did you find the recipes I wrote?”

“That was you?” Eret leaned back in her chair. 

Xisuma nodded. “This place was pretty much a mess before I got here and I don’t think this room had been used for quite a while. I cleaned things up a bit my first day here.”

Tubbo’s wings buzzed a bit. He looked worried. “A-are you okay?”

X smiled a bit, but it looked half-hearted. “I’m fine.”

It was in this moment where Eret felt like she could see something different with X. She looked over at Tubbo and his emotions hit her like a truck.

“What the fuck?”

The two looked over at her and she could almost see a faint aura around them. Tubbo’s was a bright yellow, while X’s was a dull purple. Xisuma’s looked strange though. Almost like the life had been sucked out of it, and it shimmered while Tubbo’s remained constant. “Eret?”

She blinked but nothing changed. “I think I’m seeing things.”

X’s eyes went wide. “Wait, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

Xisuma took off his helmet and set it to the side. His eyes stared intently into hers. She felt a faint wave of dizziness. “What do you know about where you come from and who you are?”

“Next to nothing.” She paused. “Are you saying you know?”

He nodded. “Have you heard the stories of a man called Herobrine?”

“I have.”

Tubbo’s jaw dropped. “Are you saying Eret is like Herobrine?!”

“Yes.”

“Please explain.” Eret felt confused. 

X rubbed his thumb across the palm of his other hand. “Well, first I need to explain a few things. In the world there are two sources of power. There is coding and then there is the soul or in most cases, magic. Now, there is a small number of people who can interact with or manipulate these things. On the code side of things you’ve got people like Admins, Code Breakers, and even Voidwalkers.”

She almost regretted asking.

“Similarly, on the magic side of things you’ve got Watchers and people like yourself. There’s a lot less known about magic due to the scarcity of those who have a connection to it. The Watchers prefer to keep to themselves and can act uhh, almost cultish at times. They don’t like members leaving their ranks and are hell bent on keeping their secrets, well, secret.”

“As for people like you, there have been so few in numbers that their existence has mostly faded into myths, legends, and obscurity. The most well known one was a man known only as Herobrine. From what I’ve been able to find out, he had the ability to see into people’s souls.”

“What the fuck?” She couldn’t process this information. “Is that what I’m seeing, your souls?”

Xisuma just nodded like he hadn’t just told her the craziest thing she’d ever heard. “I’ve heard that it mainly appears as almost a faint silhouette around a person and the colors vary from person to person. Does that sound accurate?”

Eret nodded. “Tubbo’s is yellow and yours is purple. Yours looks a lot different though. Less vibrant and flickering from time to time. Almost like something is missing.”

His face went pale. “Oh, don’t worry about that.”

“Are you sure? You seem to be worried.”

X bit his lip. “I’ve just blocked a part of my code.”

“What?!” Eret and Tubbo spoke at the same time.

“Just my admin abilities so that The Collector can’t use them against someone.”

“That has to be dangerous.”

He laughed awkwardly. “Don’t worry about it.”

“What do you mean ‘Don’t worry about it’? You obviously know it’s dangerous.”

X ignored her concern. “Well anyway, as I was saying-”

“Don’t you ignore me. How dangerous is this?”

“If it’s done for an extended period of time, it could be deadly. To block something so closely kept and powerful takes a toll on a person’s body.”

The room fell silent other than the faint bubbling of potions. “This could be killing you?”

His words came out in a small whisper. “Most likely.” 

\-----

Wels put one foot in front of the other. He couldn’t stop. The guards wouldn’t let him. He tried to ignore the collar placed around his neck and the shackles around his ankles and wrists. They weren’t going to take any chances. Not after he had almost slipped out of their grasp. He clenched his jaw. He hated this with every bone in his body. 

Sapnap and Phil walked alongside him. They had been quiet, silently dreading their destination. Wels felt guilt weigh on him. If he hadn’t been so stupid to go off alone they wouldn’t be in this situation.

His hands still shook. Last night had been a blur. Sapnap’s words had stung and he had spent the whole night walking, trying to calm down. First Phil found out and then the group had hesitated to respond when he had been called a traitor. All that he could do was walk and keep walking past the point where his whole body ached and shook from the cold and anxiety. It would have been for the best if it had just been him that had been caught, but he had to have dragged Phil and Sapnap into this. 

The building they had entered was made mainly of concrete and almost reminded Wels of prison. It had been well disguised though. They had a false canopy of trees growing on the top of the building, and the walls were covered in leaves and vines. Most of the building was underground as well. 

They came to a stop in front of a sturdy looking door. The guard at the door nodded at their escorts and opened the door. Without a choice, they filed in. 

Inside was a well built office. It was fully decorated and looked nothing like the rest of the building had been. A large desk was the centerpiece and sat at it was a man in a suit. He wasn’t what had caught Wels’ eye. He froze at the sight of Ren handcuffed to a chair.

“Oh look who has decided to join us. Wonderful timing as well, I was just talking to Mr. Wels Knight’s friend here, Ren the Dog. Take a seat.”

They were forced down onto chairs. Ren was looking at Wels with a look of horror. He probably wasn’t expecting to see him, much less like this. They were probably waiting for a rescue, or at the very least some help getting out. Yet here they were-- captured. 

“I see that Mr. Minecraft and Sapnap have joined you as well. I wasn’t quite expecting to see you so soon, much less working together. Can’t say I’m too surprised at the development.” The business man leaned back into his chair nonchalantly.

“What do you want with us?” Sapnap’s voice had a slight waiver to it. 

“Oh, this and that. Mr. Minecraft is one rare Hybrid so it would be quite easy to get a handsome reward for him. It’s unfortunate that the same can’t be spoken for you Sapnap. Though I will say that I’m not one to turn away some prime leverage on someone as powerful as Dream. Having you here should guarantee his cooperation.”

“And what about Wels? What do you want with him?” Ren sounded worried.

The man’s dark gaze shifted to Wels and a shiver ran down his spine. “Well, he’s in the same boat with Philza Minecraft. He’s not human after all.”

His world seemed to fall upside down. How did he know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hide my sins with more sins and a bit of lore. I'll go a bit more into that in the future, so sorry if it's a bit confusing at the moment. Uh, I may have hurt a child or two, but I asked my friend who's favorite is one of the children about something and they said that I most likely wouldn't get burned at the stake for it but who knows. Only time will tell.
> 
> Any guesses on what Wels is? Speculation on things to come? Let me know in the comments. I really appreciate them and I like to see what you guys think. Love y'all.


	11. Old Friends and Spilled Secrets

“What the hell?”

X put his helmet back on and turned away from Tubbo.

“Why would you-” Tubbo’s words were cut off by the sound of the door opening. Two guards walked in. 

“The bee Hybrid is coming with us.”

Eret stood in front of him, shielding him from the guards. “What do you want from him?”

“Information. We haven’t captured a bee Hybrid before, and the scientists have been dying to get their hands on one.”

Xisuma practically jumped to his feet. “No!”

“Step aside Voidwalker. And you too, freak. Don’t make me ask twice.”   
  


Eret held Tubbo’s hand tightly. 

“Tell The Collector I’m ready to talk, just leave the boy alone.” A hint of desperation edged X’s voice. 

One of the guards folded their arms. “Nice try, but the kid’s coming with us.”

“Tough talk coming from you. From what I’ve heard, you’re the reason we were able to catch him in the first place.” The other sneered.

Eret’s gaze shot over to X. The man had frozen in place. Eret spoke up. “Is this true?”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Cut the chit chat.” The guards were growing impatient. “Hand the kid over. I won’t ask again.”

Neither of them budged an inch. They made it clear they weren’t going to back down.

One of the guards lunged forward, swinging their baton at X. He caught it and twisted it out of the other’s hands, throwing it aside. The sound of glass shattering cracked across the room. 

The other guard made a move on Eret, but he ducked and got closer. He rammed his shoulder into the other’s torso, knocking the breath out of them. Eret then grabbed their wrist and twisted, letting their baton drop to the floor. 

Tubbo flew over to where the first guard’s baton had been thrown and carefully picked it out of the glass shards. He wasn’t defenseless after all. He hadn’t been in a long time. Not since the war had started. 

He turned to see X shove a guard face-first into the floor, twisting their arm behind their back. Eret slammed his heel into the other’s foot who cried out in pain. He then punched them in the stomach and they doubled-over, falling to the ground. 

Their moment of triumph didn’t last long. X was the first to go. The sound of electricity sparked through the air and his hands went up to the collar around his neck. He fell to the ground, crying out in pain. 

Three more guards flooded through the door, cornering Eret and Tubbo. Two of them went for Eret and he ended up getting shoved into the wall. They pulled his hands behind his back and handcuffs snapped around them. One of them pulled out a blindfold and tied it around his head, covering his eyes. 

Tubbo’s anxiety was going crazy as he tried to get as far away from the guard. His hands shakily gripped onto the baton. 

“Drop the baton or your friend here gets hurt.”

His eyes flickered over to Eret. The baton clattered to the floor.

“Good boy, now put your arms up and face the wall. No funny business.”

He glanced at X who had since gone still. The sound of electricity had since stopped. He did as he was told. 

There was a sharp sting on the back of his neck. 

He caught a few words as the world spun around him. “Take that one to the box. The boss will want to have a word with the other.”

\-----

Wilbur rubbed his eyes with a yawn. He was in no way a morning person, especially this early in the day. He tied up his pack to his horse’s saddle, whistling a little tune. 

Phil, Sapnap, Wels, and Grian were still gone. Worry filled his chest. He turned to look at Tommy who was currently eating an apple. At the very least he knew that Tommy was okay. Phil should be fine and so should Tubbo, Techno, and Fundy. 

His hand brushed over the dagger on his belt. Techno had given it to him. He had accidentally spoiled the surprise for himself when it was half-way finished. Techno hadn’t done any of the finer details on the handle yet and the blade hadn’t yet gotten it’s tough netherite coat when he first saw it. Nothing really too special.

Now it was a work of art. The guard had the image of a guitar etched into it and the grip was covered in a black-dyed leather. The true stunning part of it was the blade. It was almost entirely covered in netherite with only the fuller showing the diamond inside. From certain angles you could see the crystalline structure through to the other side. When it was held up in the light, you could clearly see the twists in the netherite from the repetitive folding and working of the metal. The diamond center would catch the light in a way that accentuated the shape and color of the blade. Wilbur almost cried when Techno gave it to him. He sure did after he went into his room to fully admire it. Techno was just as skilled in the area of metalworking as he was in using his created weapons. 

Tommy and Phil both had similar daggers with their own designs on the handle. Wil didn’t want to imagine the number of sleepless nights it took to create one, not to mention three of them. But along with the dagger Techno had made all of them identical sheathes with all of their initials along its length.

Recently Techno had been working on another one. From what Wil could gather from his few glaces he was able to sneak of it, it was for a certain Bee Hybrid. He also found a new branding iron sat alongside the four Techno used for their initials. 

“Is that Grian?” Iskall’s words interrupted his thoughts. 

Sure enough, the Avian half-crashed into the clearing. Wilbur looked around for any sign of Phil. There was none. From Grian’s expression, he could only expect the worst. 

“They caught Wels, Sapnap and Philza.”

His words hit his heart like a truck. They had Phil.

\-----

Techno sighed at the potatoes in his hands. After he had won the potato war he thought he would never have to farm them again. Fate had proved him wrong when he went to Tommy and Wilbur’s aid. But that hadn’t been enough. No. Techno had to go back to farming once again.

At this rate, he’d never catch a break. He had already doubled the size of the farm, but it was still pitiful in his opinion. It was enough to satisfy him for now.

“I never thought I’d see you farming potatoes again.”

Techno turned to see his old friend/nemesis. “Neither did I.”

He stood up and they clasped each other’s forearm. 

“Good to see you Squid.”

Squidkid smiled. “Long time no see.”

His arm fell back to his side. “Wish it were better circumstances.”

“Yeah. Good to see this place knows your one true calling. Potato farming.”

Techno smiled. “Who needs pvp when you’ve got farming to do instead?”

They sat down at the edge of the potato farm. The farm already filled the room and there was nothing else they could do while the potatoes grew. 

“So what have you been up to?”

Squid played with the cuff of his sleeve. “I’ve still been hanging around Hypixel. Not much has changed, I guess.” He turned and looked at Techno. “Where have you been? I’ve heard you haven’t been seen for a while outside tournaments and stuff.”

Techno hummed. “Tommy and Wilbur started a country and then got kicked out of it, so they needed some help. I couldn’t turn them down and I mean, I get to overthrow a corrupt government? Count me in.” A memory popped into his head. “Oh and me and Phil conquered the whole world. Fun times.”

“Fun times indeed.”

\-----

Cleo stared down at her communicator. What?

“X said he was banned, right?”

Jevin nodded. “Well this is an interesting turn of events.”

Confused messages flooded in. No one knew what was happening. One message in particular stood out. 

**Evil Xisuma: Where is Xisuma?**

**Zedaph: I think we all need to meet up to talk about this. EX, you can come as long as you promise there is no death and lightning.**

**Evil Xisuma: Fine, but just for Xisuma and because Worm Man trusts you.**

**Zedaph: :)**

**Vintage Beef: Let’s meet up at Town Hall.**

“Well, looks like we have an uninvited guest to meet.”

\-----

Ren’s gaze flicked between Wels and The Collector. “Wels?”

The knight was frozen in place. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I think you do. Now, do you want me to tell your little secret, or will you do it for me?” 

Wels’ jaw was set in place. The Collector motioned to a guard and he went and took off Wels’ helmet. Dark bags sat under his eyes and his golden blond hair was messier than Ren had ever seen it. Defiance radiated off of him. “Go to Hell.”

A dark chuckle bounced around the room. “From what I know, I won’t be the only one going there. One of your friends has a contract down there after all.” His gaze was locked on Wels. “Now one little question: did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?”

Ren looked over at Sapnap, who was just as confused as he was. Where did that come from?

The businessman sat, showing no sign of the fact that he just said one of the cheesiest pickup lines in existence. Wels, on the other hand, looked terrified. More terrified than he did in the Civil War or the Resistance against the NHO. More terrified than when he fought the Ender Dragon. More terrified than Ren had ever seen him.

“I-” The knight’s voice was hoarse. 

A smug smile crossed the Collector’s face. “No, really, tell me. It’s not every day that you get a Fallen Angel in your possession.”

“What the fuck?” Sapnap spoke what they were both thinking. 

Wels looked down at the floor. 

Ren’s mind was spinning. “Is this true?” He’d known Wels for years and he never showed any signs that he was anything but human. 

No response. 

“Wels?”

The Collector clapped his hands. “Wonderful job keeping the act up for so long. Now, how about those wings of yours?”

His muscles were all tensed up. “Now how about you mind your own goddamn business?”

“My business? You know what my business is.” The businessman stood up and leaned over his desk. He snapped his fingers. “Grab the mutt.”

Hands grabbed Ren’s arms and pulled him out of his chair. He struggled a little, but stopped when there was no sign of any changes. 

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Reveal your wings or your little friend here gets hurt.”

Ren’s worried eyes met Wels’. The other’s blue eyes flickered to amber and then back to blue. He looked so tired. Almost like he hadn’t slept for the past day or two. Wels was not one to like the night. 

An elbow to the diaphragm knocked the air out of him. He could feel it spasm as he struggled to try and get a good breath. A small whimper built up in his throat. 

“Stop. I’ll do it.” Wels sounded even more tired than he looked. He rose to his feet.

The Collector smiled, pleased. “I see you understand how things go around here.”

Wels sighed and took off his chestplate, revealing two holes in the back of his shirt. His back was heavily scarred and Ren winced. Those were scars from a whip.

The air around Wels shimmered. Light shot through the room. Ren blinked the spots away and gasped. 

Sure enough a pair of wings sat on Wels’ back. They were a beautiful gold that matched the gold accents of his armor. They weren’t in the best of condition though. One was severely burned while the other wing had several feathers missing. He kept them folded behind his back, tucking the burnt one in slightly more than the other. 

The Collector whistled softly and walked around his desk. “All of the books I’ve read really didn’t do angel wings justice. It’s a shame that The Fall did quite a number on them.”

Wels was glaring at him. His feathers were all ruffled up. 

The businessman walked up to Wels and looked him up and down. “You’ll sell for quite a handsome reward.” He walked behind Wels and brushed his fingers over the wings. “We’ll have to see how salvageable these wings are in the meantime.”

Wels looked sick to his stomach. He was very slightly trembling, but he stood fixed in place. His eyes were locked on a spot on the wall. It was so strange how naturally Wels seemed to stand there, like he’d done it many times before. 

The Collector walked back behind his desk and sat back in his chair. “I thought I struck gold when I got a Voidwalker Admin, and even more when Dream and Technoblade followed. And on top of that, their presence here got me an Avian and a Fallen Angel? Fate has been smiling down on this fine establishment.”

Phil looked ready to punch someone. Sapnap just looked extremely uncomfortable. Ren could relate to both of them. 

“Guards, get the wing cuffs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fallen Angel Wels anyone? (I mean when have I ever followed the normal path?) As much as I love elf/fae Wels, the idea popped into my head and I just couldn't get rid of it. And the existence of Hels gave me ideas. Also, I know there's that whole thing about Philza being the Angel of Death, but I have no idea where that came from and I forgot it existed until after I had written this chapter. So, Phil will just be Avian with the title of Angel of Death. I should mention that I'm writing Avians and Angels as sort of distant cousins. Some similarities but also some differences. I'm sure I'll explain better eventually.
> 
> *Aggressively hugs Xisuma* It's my comfort character and I get to project onto him. I definitely do not have issues. 
> 
> (Completely and totally off the topic, but Transuma anyone? Not projecting, no, never.)
> 
> Ahem, well I would just like to say wow. There's a lot more of you than I ever expected. *Techno voice* You are alright to me, so basically, I'd die for you. Anyway, gotta run. I hurt a child and I might be in danger. You all are amazing, loved, and worthy.


	12. Broken Wings and Things

Phil looked away. Wels’ screams echoed through the room. He knew how painful wing cuffs were. Both Avian and Angel wings are considerably strong so to keep them restrained, the cuffs had to be stronger. They couldn’t be loose either. No, they were forced around the wings tightly, restraining any sort of movement from them. 

While most of the physical pain came from wearing them for a prolonged period of time, the immediate pain came from the magic restriction. Both Avians and Angels alike had a considerable amount of magic, and most of it is stored in the wings. They are a manifestation of their magic after all. 

To have this magic restrained and drained was excruciating. It felt like a part of you was being ripped out of you. The pain dulls a bit the longer you wear it, but more and more of your energy gets sapped. To have such a vital part of you suppressed takes its toll on the body after all. It’s almost like your body is trying to fill in that void but the cuffs just drain the filler energy. The longer the cuffs are worn without any breaks, the more dangerous they were. Phil thinks to some rumors he’s heard of people dying or permanently injuring their wings from wearing them for months. 

He knows he’s next. While they had dragged both Sapnap and Ren away, Phil was left behind. His feathers were ruffled up, and his wings were tense. Every part of him wanted to fly away, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t get far at all. It didn’t help that the ceilings were relatively low. 

He turned his gaze back to Wels. The knight had fallen to his knees, his arms holding his body up. He was shaking and breathing heavily. He looked so broken, his wings damaged-- bound behind his back--, his wrists and ankles shackled and chained together, and his hair greasy and unkept, hiding his face from view. 

It became painfully clear to Phil how young Wels truly was, far too young to go through this and to know all the things he does. In a way, he reminded Phil of a younger Techno. Heavily scarred and built for battle. The way he carried himself and was constantly evaluating his surroundings. The way he fought with all he could when they had been caught. A bit of him thought to Techno’s greatest fear: being forced to be someone’s weapon again. Techno would do anything to keep that from happening and Wels had shown that desperation. 

Two guards dragged Wels to his feet and led him away. His gaze went to Wels’ armor and weapons in a neat pile off to the side of the room. The compound was Hell bent on checking each of them for anything that could possibly be used as a weapon. 

It was Phil’s turn next. Two guards went to work patting him down. It was uncomfortable to say the least. He slapped away a hand that went up to his ear, trying to take off his earring. 

“Don’t bother trying, it’s bound to me with curse of binding.” A little part of him felt relieved he had through the length to bind the earring to him. His Friendship Emerald sparkled where it hung. 

They left the earring but took away something equally valuable to him. The dagger Techno had made him. He made a mental note to get it back before they burned this place to the ground. Or blew it up for that matter. They wouldn’t want to leave any part of the building and most of it appeared to be made of concrete. 

He instinctively pulled his wing away when a guard touched it. Phil didn’t like people he wasn’t close to touching his wings. It was far too uncomfortable and almost intimate. No. He didn’t like people touching his wings in general. It was almost like touching his hair. You don’t just go up to some person you barely know and run your fingers through their hair, and the same can be said for wings. 

“Stay still Mutt.” Hands roughly forced him to his knees. His wings flung out and whacked away the guards. Phil’s pride wouldn’t let them put those clamps on without a fight. He rose to his feet.

The Collector sat up in his chair, looking up from Phil’s dagger he had in his grimy hands. “Interesting. I would have expected more of a fight from the angel but he barely resisted. And here you are trying to defy me. I can’t be too surprised. You were once a great Emperor after all while he was a lowly knight. And if my information is correct, he does have a background in a place similar to this operation.” He set the dagger on his desk. “Nevermind that. We’ll have you obeying in no time.”

Phil stood with his wings fluffed out a bit, trying to make him look a bit more intimidating. It was a shame he wasn’t wearing his heeled boots. He could use the extra height. “You will do no such thing. We will stop you. I will tear down this whole operation brick by brick if I have to. I will have you remember I’ve conquered many countries and factions. Your whole business is nothing compared to the great Antarctic Empire.”

Then the fucker had the audacity to clap. “I will say your whole show there was impressive, but I know empty words when I hear them. You have nothing to stop me, while in my grasps I have the great Technoblade, one of your little adopted sons, and your only grandchild. Tough talk for a man holding none of the cards.”

“Tough talk for a dead bitch.”

That got him a punch to the face. He had gotten a bit distracted and one of the guards got lucky. Two more guards took the chance to wrap chains around his wings and force them to fold behind his back. He struggled but it was too late. One of the wing cuffs snapped around his right wing.

An almost animalistic scream left his mouth. In an instant he was back there. The smoke filling the air and with screams and panic. Tears poured down his face and ran down his chin. It was too much, the pain was too much. The second cuff was on before he knew it. His wings burned. He was on the ground and he could faintly make out the grin on The Collector’s face above him.

\-----

Should X have fought the guards? Probably not. But there was no way he was just going to let them take Tubbo away for their twisted experiments. He had seen the state Doc and Ranboo were on after they disappeared the first time. Doc hadn’t said a thing and only let Etho, Ren, and X get close to him. Ranboo’s state had been much worse, muttering in Enderman under his breath too quickly for X to make out more than a few words here and there. Even Etho had had difficulty understanding Ranboo. He had refused to look at anyone and would curl up whenever someone looked at him. 

Now Xisuma’s whole body ached. He was in the lab, only his ankles shackled to the chair. He doubted that he could do anything anyway. He looked across the lab and spotted a familiar face. 

“ _ Ranboo? _ ” 

The young Hybrid looked up at his name. “ _ Xisuma? _ ” He called back in Enderman. “ _ They did something to Doc, he’s got- _ ”

Another face caught his gaze and he could see what Ranboo was talking about. “ _ Horns. _ ” They both spoke at the same time. Sure enough, two gleaming white horns grew out of his head and curled backwards. Doc had goat horns. 

Now, far stranger things had happened in Hermitcraft. Iskall and Mumbo had merged themselves into two patchwork versions of their parts once after all. That had been a nightmare to fix. No, growing horns wouldn’t make him bat an eye. But this was something else. The scientists had done something to Doc and now he has horns. And by the looks of things, none of them had a clue what had happened. 

“ _ Have you seen a bee Hybrid in here? _ ” He knew Tubbo must have gotten there while X was unconscious. 

Ranboo looked uneasy. “ _ You mean Tubbo? He’s- _ ” He looked away from X. “ _ His- _ ”

“Where?” His voice rang out. 

Ranboo nodded over to a corner.

Several scientists were huddled around something, but the machinery blocked what he could only guess was Tubbo. 

Ranboo’s voice quivered a bit. “ _ His wing- _ ”

\-----

“Why is Evil X here? How is he even here?”

The gathered Hermits looked over at the gloomy figure. 

Evil X scowled. “You really think my derp of a brother could keep me out? Relax, I’m not here to hurt anyone. At least, none of you I don’t think. Now you never answered my question. Where is Xisuma?”

They all looked amongst each other. “Why should we tell you? You’ve tried to destroy the server multiple times!” 

Evil X glared over at the stick of a redstoner, Mumbo Jumbo. 

Zedaph cut in. “Hold on Mumbo. Evil X, Xisuma is gone at the moment. What made you decide to drop by?”

“I know X is in danger. I saw him in a dream.” 

Surprise and a few muttered questions filled the group. “I knew we should have sent more people.” One particularly loud Hermit spoke up. Bubbles or something like that. 

“So you knew?” His already unhappy mood got worse. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“It’s not like we have your number. What would you want us to do, dial up 666?” The blue slime man spoke up. Oh yeah Jevin. Evil X suddenly hoped X had paid back what he had stolen or things would be a bit awkward between them.

He looked over at a sheepish looking Zedaph. It was not like they would go out for tea the first of each month. Uh, him and Worm Man he meant. Zedaph just knows Worm Man. That’s why he got the two mixed up. No other reason.

“Anyway,” Zed spoke up. “Evil X should know. He hasn’t been doing anything evil for a long time and he is still X’s brother.”

EX nodded, thinking about helping those two recap guys. The short zombie and the other one. 

The other Hermits seemed to agree. “Shishwammy got captured along with Doc, Etho, Ren, Tango, and Cub.” Oh so there was the shocked face that could give him nightmares. And Keralis still hadn’t dropped that ridiculous nickname? As long as he kept it to X he’d be fine. No one gets to call him Evil Shishwammy, even if they immediately compliment his beautiful face. 

He looked at the crowd, noting down some of the faces that were missing. Hels’ less cool brother, that one Impulse guy that gave him the I-Trade pass, the short winged one Grian, the scary warrior lady False, and the diorite hater Iskall along with the others Keralis had mentioned. “You sent five people as a rescue party?”

“It was the most practical. A smaller group could cover more ground quicker and sneak in unnoticed.” Mumbo fidgeted with a small bird figurine. 

EX nodded. “True, but with the way I travel, size won’t affect speed at all. And if we have enough people we won’t need stealth to get them back.”

“And the way you travel is-” Oh, looks like xB was back on the server. Not much had changed about him since that time EX drained his ocean base.

“I’m a Voidwalker, I know my shortcuts.” He scanned over the crowd. “I’ll make a portal.”

“We don’t even know where they are!” A particular zombie spoke up, Cleo was the name that his brain supplied.

Evil X went over his options. There’s a good chance Hels knows something, but there’s no way of knowing where he is at the moment. He liked to keep himself hidden from the world. Another option would be to find the last world border either Xisuma or the party crossed. It would be harder to find out the party’s signatures, so X would be the best bet. The place they were being held most likely hid its logs and it could take days to break into the code of all possible locations. But, they wouldn’t have been able to completely mask their entrance into other servers. Especially X’s. The Void liked to keep track of it’s children. 

“Maybe not directly where they are, but I could find where they last were. Then we’d just be a hop, skip, and a jump away from finding them. We might even be able to find your little rescue party.”

Several of them had a mixture of confusion and distrust on their face. Joe Hills wasn’t one of them. “If we end up close enough to the rescue party we might even be able to send a message to them.”

“We know next to nothing about this place, do you think we would be enough with or without the rescue party? Not all of us here are good at fighting, there’s a reason the others got chosen to go.” EX didn’t catch who said that.

“I know a few people who could help out.” Jevin once again spoke up. “We could get Jess, Python, and Biffa. Jessassin is, well, an assassin after all. And those of us who remember Season Three’s head hunt know Biffa’s got the skills.”

“And we know where they are.” TFC’s raspy voice cut through the group. “A few of us could go with Evil X while the rest of us gather up the gear we’d need.”

“What about Pun-” 

“No!” Bdubs cut off whatever Beef was going to say. “We are not bringing him along with us.”

Looking at the determined faces of all of the Hermits, EX couldn’t help but feel glad Xisuma had such great friends. And Bdubs is there too.

\-----

Sam’s bunker was filled with the sounds of preparation. Mismatched sets of armor glinted in the torchlight. Moments ago everything had almost felt normal. Niki had been feeding Fungi when the messages rolled in. They had visitors.

And god there were so many of them. 

There were over a dozen join messages. Some of them sounded so familiar-- Mumbo Jumbo, Goodtimeswithscar, Stressmonster101-- and then it had all clicked in place when she read the first message. 

**EvilXisuma has joined the game**

Those were the names of Hermits. Well, except the whole “Evil” Xisuma. She knew Xisuma was the name of their admin and one of the missing members. 

The SMPers were skeptical. There was no way of telling if they were the actual Hermits without confronting them, and if the last few days had taught them anything, you could never be too careful. One of them literally had evil in their name and that sure didn't help.

After everyone was kitted out in gear they headed into the Nether. They had the home court advantage and they were most likely near L’manburg. They moved swiftly and soon enough they spotted someone. Well, heard someone would be more accurate. 

They were approaching Eret’s castle cautiously. And from what Niki could see, they sure were an odd bunch.

There was a Zombie Hybrid pointing out Eret’s statue to another Hermit, one wearing glasses and a blue shirt with an @ symbol on it. A blue slime Hybrid was whispering to a man wearing strange red and gold armor and a red Creeper Hybrid followed behind them. In the front was someone in crimson red armor with a tinted visor, an old man who looked like he could kill God, and a man with a black bandana on his head. 

Some of the people were concerning to say the least. One was straight up wearing a white apron splattered in blood while another had the biggest eyes and a shocked expression. There was no way he was completely human. Eyes that big just aren’t natural. Another one was wearing an assassin’s getup, so that definitely wasn’t helping.

Then there were a few that evened it out. They didn’t look like they could hurt a fly. There was a tall one in a suit with an iconic mustache, but he was built like a twig. Another was wearing a cowboy hat and had a cat draped over his shoulders and walking alongside him was a short lady in a pink cardigan with flowers in her hair. Walking aside a bearded man was the one they heard. He was the shortest one other than the lady in pink and he was arguing about his brother or something. One in a brown button-up shirt was trying to hide his smile.

She made eye contact with Sam, George, Ant, and Jack Manifold. They were the ones chosen to go and talk with the Hermits while the others would keep themselves hidden, ready to attack at any sign of hostility. 

They kept their swords sheathed as they walked down the Prime Path. Instantly a few of the Hermits spotted them and notified the others. 

“What brings you here this lovely day?” Jack said as they got closer.

The one in the crimson armor stepped forward. “I’m looking for my idiot brother Xisuma. This was the last server he entered before his trail went cold.”

The others looked about as confused as Niki was. “So you are the other Hermits? Wels, Iskall, False, Grian, and Impulse passed through here a few days ago.”

“Grian and Iskall were here?” The mustached man spoke and Niki recognized him as Mumbo Jumbo. 

“Yeah, they were looking for your missing members and they followed the trail here. A few of our friends went with them since some of us went missing as well.” George looked slightly more calm.

The Hermits all looked at eachother, seemingly having a silent discussion. It was almost slightly eerie how they all seemed to be on the same page. 

“Well they’re going to need all the help they can get.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, I'm in danger. But hey, so are all of the people in this fic. I did warn you guys. If the Evil X portion seems really weird, I might have been having a mental breakdown over chemistry while I wrote it. And oh my god. The character tag list is going to be huge. There are so many people. And I will do everything I can to give each and every one of them the spotlight at least once. I'm probably biting off more than I can chew. Granted, I might not write them the best. I have watched at least a few videos from all of the Hermits, been around since Season Five baby. Dream SMP, not so much but I have watched at least a part of streams from almost all of them and videos from all of those who make videos. 
> 
> Side note. I was looking at the Hermitcraft website and I noticed Biffa was no longer included in the inactive or active lists. I may have cried. I miss him. So yeah, he's still going to be in this. Biffa fans need some content.
> 
> Also, watch me make so many of these guys (and gals and nonbinary pals) trans. I've already got like six of them. 
> 
> But yeah. If anyone's got some big brain or completely random theories, please tell me in the comments. For all y'all who have been saying The Collector is Mr. Beast, you are headed on the right track, but not quite. I do appreciate all of you guys. Even if you threaten my kneecaps.


	13. Eret in a box, what will they do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning! If you have issues with small spaces and dark areas the Eret part is not for you.

It had taken much longer than False thought to pack up Wels’ stuff. He hadn’t even gotten much out but it was still difficult. It was all just a reminder that she had failed. Once again a Hermit was taken. Once again she hadn’t been there to stop it. 

She should have gone with them. 

Nearby Wilbur was packing up Phil’s stuff while Skeppy was doing the same for Sapnap’s. They were supposed to be the rescue mission. Things weren’t supposed to go like this. 

She stopped when she found his Communicator. Usually you’d never find a Hermit without theirs but it wasn’t normal times. There was no one around to receive a message from other than each other, but there was no reason to expect that they would have been separated like this. 

False ran a finger over the engraving of his name on the back. She’d get them all back, even if she had to storm it herself. 

Then she felt the all too familiar buzzing of her communicator while Wels’ did the same. She pulled out hers to read the message and felt a wave of relief followed by a bit of confusion.

**Zombie Cleo: Backup has arrived.**

The sound of a portal opening up came from outside the tent and she sprinted out with Wilbur and Skeppy following her. Tommy had pulled out his sword but Grian motioned to put it down. Then the ranks started to slowly spill out of the portal. 

Evil X of all people was the first to exit followed closely by TFC, Niki, Biffa, and George. Eventually the clearing was filled with Hermits and SMPers alike, all armed and ready. Grian sprinted full force into Mumbo the second he exited the portal and the two fell down into the dirt. She felt herself relax at the sight of the familiar faces.

Jevin was busy looking around the clearing. “Where’s Wels?”

“And Sapnap?” George sounded worried. 

The group fell silent and Impulse was the first to speak up. “They got Wels, Sapnap, and Philza.” Zedaph gave him a comforting hug. 

They all looked a little disheartened. Evil X was an exception. “Hels was right when he said his brother was incompetant.” That got him a punch in the arm by Biffa. 

“Well, we’ll just have to rescue them too.” This came from someone False didn’t recognize, most likely someone from the SMP.

Sounds of agreement filled the group.

“Mess with one of us, you mess with us all.”

Tommy spoke up. “They really fucked up on this one.” 

\-----

Cub tried to focus on the clinking of his pickaxe. He tried not to think about Dream wearing Scar’s mask. He tried not to think about how worried Scar would be. Tried to ignore the urge to smack the grin off that guard’s face. By the will of Vexnos, Cub was going to get out of here.

Etho was worried. It didn’t take much to feel the anxiety coming off him. Not only had they taken away Doc, they took the kid, Ranboo, away too. Add the fact that none of them had seen X and you get one anxious Enderman. 

They really didn’t know how long they would be stuck here. There had been rumors of an auction, but no one knew when. 

He heard the sound of footsteps approaching and then a shout. “Dream!”

Cub turned to look out of curiosity and watched Dream launch himself towards the newcomer and the two crashed into each other in a hug. The other wore a white shirt over a black hoodie and a white bandana peaked out from under a bit of his black hair. A faint memory from MCC resurfaced and he recognized him as Sapnap.

He turned back to his work, a bit of jealousy building up inside him. He felt guilty about it though. It’s good Scar wasn’t here. There was no way he should have to experience this.

“What happened, why are you here?” Dream sounded worried.

An awkward chuckle. “We were on our way to rescue you guys.”

“We?”

“Me, Phil, Skeppy, Tommy, and Wilbur along with some of the Hermits.”

Cub and Etho whipped around. “Who? Did they catch them too?” Etho spoke first.

Sapnap looked a little surprised at them but quickly responded. “Wels Knight, False Symmetry, Grain, Iskall, and Impulse showed up a day or two after Dream and the others disappeared. And uh, only me, Phil, and Wels got caught. The others are still out there.”

Etho muttered something in Enderman, most likely a curse from his tone. 

“Wait, what did they do with Wels? They’d have no use for him in a place like this, he’s human.”

Sapnap was beginning to look reminiscent of Keralis, permanently surprised. “He’s not though.” Before they could ask him to explain he continued. “Apparently he’s a Fallen Angel. None of you actually knew?”

The Hermits shook their heads. Cub couldn’t help but go over all of the time he’d spent with Wels. He’d never shown to be anything but human. 

A bell rung out in the room. God Cub hated that thing. It always rung at the worst time. Well, there wasn't much he could do. Time to head back to their cells. 

“Fuck, we’ll talk more tomorrow. Be safe.” Dream and Sapnap exchanged another hug before the two got separated. 

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day. Seeing what happened to X, Ranboo, and Doc. Talking to Wels. Not to mention trying to figure out what really happened with Dream. Cub just hoped they all made it to the next day.

\-----

It was dark.

Not just a moonless night dark, not void dark, not even a torchless cave dark. It was so dark it seemed to not only be void of any and all light, but it felt like the walls were draining it. 

His muscles had started to cramp a while ago. The box was small, far too small for an average person to sit comfortably, and in this moment Eret was beginning to hate his height. The walls were cold, even through his shirt. God he missed his cloak. 

He kept seeing things, but he knew they couldn’t be real. The box was too small for something to be in there with him. Still, the darkness seemed to be filled with some sort of life. A chill ran down his spine. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched. 

He started losing feeling in his arms when the voices started speaking. They started out as noises, nothing more than just static and a faint buzzing, but then he heard the whispers. 

_ Child of the void? No, it can’t be.  _

_ What are you? _

_ Join us sibling.  _

_ You’ve been lost for so long. _

_ We must tell them.  _

_ Get out before it’s too late. _

_ Voidless eyes. _

_ A monarch only by words. _

_ You are not like the other. _

_ Lost _

_ So much pain. _

_ We are losing one already. You must not join him.  _

_ The child, he is hurt. Find him. _

_ Your throne waivers. _

_ Be strong. _

They slowly grew louder, slowly overlapping each other. While he could make out a few sentences before, it was getting harder and harder to focus on what the voices were saying. He could barely make out a word every so often. 

They were beginning to sound more urgent, telling him to do something but he didn’t know what. They were getting louder and Eret tried to cover his ears to block out the sound but it didn’t work. His head hurt from the noise.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Then they spoke in unison.

**_run._ **

\-----

The world twisted around him. His arms and legs felt heavy and he could barely lift them. There were voices muttering around him. Tubbo’s eyes slowly started to focus and he saw scientists around him. What happened?

He felt so tired, like he could fall asleep at any moment. There was no doubt in his mind that if he tried to stand he would just fall over. He felt a dull pain in his right wing and he let his head fall to the side to glance at it. 

Odd. He didn’t remember his wing having a tear in it. 

A few faint voices called out to him, voices he could almost recognize, but he slowly slipped back into the sweet comforts of unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be honest, this isn't my best work, I just wanted to give you guys something since it's been a while. It's also way shorter than I wanted. I don't think there's much else for me to say other than to thank all of you for sticking along with this. Also, I'm going to do an info dump chapter soon because there is so much stuff that I want to explain in a bit more detail that I couldn't do in a normal chapter.
> 
> Edit: OH GOD I FORGOT TO SAY DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER! Pinkowls55 guessed who The Collector is. So, some small really obscure conversation I remember from a stream is this one where Dream and Sapnap were talking about like an anti-Mr. Beast and my brain sort of went "Hey, I could just make the villain Mr. Beast's evil version." I debated about making the villain just Mr. Beast but with Karl being on the SMP that complicated stuff so this was the best I could come up with. Well, uh they originally called him Monsieur Bacteria but bruh I couldn't just name the villain that, that would be lame. (Honestly The Collector isn't that much better). But yeah, Pinkowls55, you guessed it.


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